Absent-minded
by asap Wocky - Ben
Summary: Corrin's mind is one of friendship. The ties that bind grow strong, but never stronger. And this mind he is content with. However, with the recruitment of Hinoka and her retainers, his mind hints at difference. Corrin (M) x Setsuna
1. A Nation Silenced

**_Absent-minded_**

 _ **Chapter 1: A Nation Silenced**_

 **Front Cover provided by AWDEKO (Twitter), awdeko (Instagram), awdeko (Tumblr)**

 **A/N: I have way too much free time and I like Fire Emblem (and also Setsuna), so this came about.**

 **In all seriousness, this is my first story on here, so any criticism is greatly appreciated, however nervous I am for first thoughts about my writing. That being said, as of the time of this being published, I have written a few chapters, so feedback and improvements will be applied a few chapters after when the feedback is sent.**

 **My goal for this project is for me to put my time towards a more practical skill rather than just playing video games all day, and I also hope that people enjoy reading it, and want to continue following this story.**

 **Rated T for a few romantic undertones within the story, and a little language.**

 **This story only loosely follows the plot of Birthright, so inclusion of some characters like Zola will be removed.**

 **Pairings: Corrin (Male)/ Setsuna, Mystery / Oboro, Hinata / Mystery, Ryoma / Mystery, Mystery / Hinoka - these will come inside the story.**

 **Kaze / Hana, Saizo / Orochi, Jakob / Felicia - married before the start of this story, however these pairs won't have as a great a story implementation in terms of children.**

 **The Corrin in this story has dark blue hair (don't even ask how), a little lighter than Oboro's (if you want complete specifics, Corrin's '#27' hair colour) , but otherwise the standard male Avatar in terms of build.**

 **The story may include a bit of in-game dialogue, but only for implementation of supports.**

 **I might as well also say that the camp is only based on the Astral Plane, and isn't the Astral Plane itself. The upbringing of children is somewhat important to the plot, so no Deeprealms either, no matter how dangerous it is for infants to travel to and in Nohr.**

 **Most of the characters and locations I use belong to Intelligent Systems. Some are my own made for the purposes of fleshing out the story and making it only slightly follow the plot of Birthright.**

* * *

Corrin focused, aligning his blade with the slender form of the ninja that stood before him. The Mokushujin was unintimidated by the prince, gripping his jet black shuriken in his left hand, which was gloved in a body of leather. The thin leather glove defined his metacarpals, as he slightly bent his fingers, two of them assigned to the forward facing points of the throwing star. Undeterred by this somewhat menacing look, Corrin allowed the world around him to slow. He looked at the ancient inscriptions carved into the sacred blade Yato as he sharpened his senses. Smelling the familiar scent of metal emanating from the shuriken the ninja grasped, he drifted his thoughts to the day when the blade, by some otherworldly magnetic attraction, was bestowed upon to him, rising from the deceased form of the Dawn Dragon sculpture, straight into his hand. Corrin had never given the inscriptions much thought, but looking at them now he recognised them as characters from an ancient language belonging the First Dragons, who founded Hoshido and Nohr, two conflicting nations. Somehow, this deeply saddened him, vividly reminding him of the strong bonds he had had to abandon with his choice to side with his family by birth.

Corrin focused back to the battle on hand. For him, time had slowed down almost to the point where it reached a stop, preventing any further progress in his quest for peace. The ninja seemed to be almost waiting for him to come out of his trance to challenge him, as if a fair fight was all that mattered. His senses peaked; he lunged forward at the Mokushujin, evoking a yell of surprise from the ninja. Pressing his advantage, he swerved to the right of the man's desperate shuriken throw and, getting used to his emotional boundaries, ran his blade parallel to his arm, cutting through the ninja's bark brown tunic. The Mokushujin cried out again, this time in defeat. Crimson began to stain his tunic, and it leaked through to the foliage, like an elaborate painting. Looking away, Corrin forced himself not to dwell on the situation. He would normally leave his enemies alive, but he could not take any risks with the ninjas, as they seemed to be always handling a shuriken even in death. Although a pacifist, Corrin was getting used to the consequences that would conspire to make his ideal world, and accepted that "there never could be peace without blood, sweat and tears" which was what Ryoma told him when Corrin was overburdened at his protection of Sakura in the temple of Fort Jinya a few months ago.

"Lord Corrin!"

Oboro rushed up on Corrin's left hand side. Her sapphire blue and baby orange uniform was dirty, muddied by the heat of the battle that was ensuing before them. Corrin smiled. Although Oboro's uniform, as well as the patterned wooden breastplate offered no sort of camouflage, he knew that someone of her capabilities did not need it. She was extremely seasoned in the art of naginatajutsu; on the battlefield, her usage of the lance (Corrin practiced with the Nohrian craft for the weapon in his childhood and early adulthood) was both strategic and skilful, allowing her to quickly dispatch the many enemies they had encountered during their journey. He was happy that she had rightfully earned Takumi's attention after being promoted to a retainer, especially given how her life had turned when her parents were murdered by Nohrian bandits.

"Hello Oboro," Corrin replied, with a nod of recognition aimed to where Oboro was standing, "we don't have much time to chat idly, do you bring me news?"

"The Mokushujin have shown signs of withdrawal, however, Daimyo Kotaro has not had any intention of leaving himself as of yet. I expect that Lord Ryoma will want us to regroup, so I might as well as do his job for him." Oboro swished her cobalt blue ponytail behind her shoulders, before running off, naginata closely behind. "See you when we regroup!" she said, with a wink at Corrin, before she disappeared amongst the composition of native Mokushu trees.

As he took off in a different direction to Oboro, feelings of hatred for the Mokushujin noble laced through every corner of his mind. He could not find it, even in his generally forgiving and self-critical mind, to ignore the fact that Kotaro had agreed to support Nohr (as a Hoshidan region no less) in return for land from the sub-Hoshidan regions which King Garon obviously would try to invade as the war continued.

Corrin allowed thoughts to run wild as he searched for a sign of any ninjas. Oboro's message was proving to be ringing true, as he was met with nothing but ninjas of eternal sleep, already half concealed by the ever falling cinnamon leaves, a natural grave. "Some offense," he muttered, catching a rather amusing sight of a few ninjas, retreating in a defeated fashion. However, although most of the Mokushu forces had been dispatched with relative ease, there still remained the question of what to do with Kotaro. Although Corrin's hatred of the man had grown substantially in a very short period, he was still willing to take measures if Kotaro agreed to cancel his alliance with the western nation. The prince continued to jog through the forest, looking for signs of his allies.

* * *

Kotaro was seething with frustration. As the Hoshidan forces had the courage to enter his land on their way to Nohr, he had gathered up an army of men, most ninjas - shurikens were seen as the weapon of Mokushu – and prepared for an ambush. Needless to say, his plan had exploded in his face. While Corrin's fellowship was not expecting to battle in -as far as they knew- a peaceful Hoshidan region (he had committed Corrin's name to memory when news broke that he had decided to betray his Nohrian family, lest he had the chance to assassinate him), they still were all wielding their specialist weapons – from katanas, to naginatas, and even a few shuriken wielders potent in the teachings of ninjutsu. When he approached the group, he never planned to actually initiate the battle with the Hoshidan ready. Part of this first mistake was due to the incompetence of his own ninjas, missing a shuriken which was planned to strike Corrin where it hurt most, which meant that the few spear fighters he had managed to gather would rush in and finish him off. Though hardly a tactician, Kotaro admired his intelligence with this seemingly ingenious plan. However, everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. The other part of this first mistake was the fact that the company of Hoshidans were already alert, almost as even they knew of Mokushu's newfound allegiance to Nohr.

Kotaro swore in the bitter Mokushujin tongue that he dismissed and dismissed as the common Hoshidan – and Nohrian – language spread far and wide over almost all provinces of both kingdoms. Having decided to opt out of battling himself and letting his army do the work for him, he had placed a lot of weight on his troops who were less well-practiced in the first place, and even though the Hoshidans had far less in terms of number, reports were that none of them had fallen in this spur. He clenched his heptapoint shuriken tightly, its sleek red Mokushujin patterns showing that this was his, and only his. Crouching in a small clearing, Kotaro spotted an archer, accompanied by what looked to be a samurai and ninja. He gritted his teeth. He had almost accepted his fate. Regrets flowed at regular intervals throughout his conscience, regretting the choice to back up Nohr in Hoshido, the choice to engage the enemy in this very forest, the choice to infiltrate Hoshido for big land and financial rewards. He prepared for his demise, deciding a vow towards Hoshido, the land he had stayed true to for so long was appropriate. He slashed off his ponytail with his star, and spread the hairs among the ground. This was his interpretation of how to make an offering to the Dawn Dragon who supposedly watched over Hoshido. Taking off his leather shuriken satchel and laying it on the floor amongst the hair, he closed his eyes.

He had one shuriken. And one goal. He had to make it count.

* * *

"Milord, I have your spare quiver on hand."

Takumi frowned with an unenthusiastic "Oh." Despite the droll tone of this comment, it felt livelier than the forest which had announced a new deathly presence a while ago.

"Oboro, I really do appreciate your concern, but if you take the moment to inspect my quiver on my waistguard, I do believe that you will notice I have an abundance of arrows, so I won't be needing more. "

Oboro flinched. "I'm sorry milord; I know I should have checked on your quiver before asking. I promise that it will not happen again, I was just worried about whether you were running out of ammo for the sacred yumi you possess."

Takumi suppressed a laugh. For a long time it had been clear that the girl was infatuated to him, from her overly protective, motherly nature, to her explanations when he criticized her. He often found it quite comical, however as of late he found himself willingly spending more time with her, which made him begin to question his own feelings. Takumi almost thought that taking the issue to his other retainer, Hinata would be a good idea. This proved to be a bad idea, since Hinata had spread a 'rumour' about him to Oboro. Seeing the seamstress had heard this and injected it into her brain – and had been acting slightly more motherly to him since – he wondered whether he should stop asking himself questions and just follow what he thought was right. The childish infatuation Oboro had was, willingly or not, developing within him too. However these were thoughts to ponder over in his spare time.

"It's fine, Oboro, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself; everyone makes mistakes from time to time. You are a great fighter and great at looking after my needs too – you are everything a liege like me would want."

Flattered by these kind words, Oboro blushed, a stark contrast to her long blue hair. She looked away.

"Lord Takumi, I must be going. I will see you after the battle, if all goes to plan. But I will always be near you, so if you are ever in danger, do not be afraid to call for my help. I would rather die than see you get killed."

And off she went, readjusting her ponytail, her hair almost going down to her battle stained, orange kimono skirt. Takumi decided to follow suit, fiddling with his hair tie just like Oboro was. He ran, wielding his divine weapon, the Fujin Yumi. The yumi was unnaturally tall – one hundred and ninety centimetres, especially big for a man of his height. Despite its length, Takumi had gotten used to it. His arching talent was exceptional, rivalled only by one of Lady Hinoka's retainers. However, since Lady Hinoka was visiting Notre Sagesse on orders from Yukimura, Hoshido's head tactician and servant to the late Lady Mikoto, neither she nor her retainers were present. However, they were expected to join the group once they arrived in Nohr, so Takumi would have another archer to help with the native Nohrian wyverns that they would no doubt encounter.

Since the group had left the Hoshidan capital a few months ago, they had followed the eastern coast, and were now beginning to get to the south western tip of Hoshido. Their routes had taken them through to the Great Wall of Suzanoh, the world-famous capital border, to Fort Jinya, which served as a hospital on the outskirts of the capital, to the windy desert of the Wind Tribe where they recruited Hayato, a man who looked very young, but was potent in magic and using scrolls. Further along their journey, they had passed through Izumo, where they were deceived by a Nohrian mage, and to Mokushu, where they now were. From Mokushu, it was a matter of heading a short way west, through the smaller Hoshidan provinces which were situated in plains and forests. The group would then take a boat over to Nohr, arriving close to Cyrkensia, where it was planned that Hinoka would meet up with them. From that point on, the smooth sailing would stop: word of the group would spread quickly, so Nohrian would be on full alert for intruders from the east kingdom.

As he was planning the route out in his head, he noticed that Saizo and Ryoma were approaching him, stern faces pasted onto their heads. Ryoma walked slowly over to Takumi, with rhythmic footsteps in an even manner, engulfing the leaves and vegetation.

"We have located their leader," Ryoma said, his facial expressions still temporarily molded into his head, "we need to be cautious though; he is wielding a shuriken, and looks ready to fight, given the chance."

"Hm. I'll rally the others, from my knowledge this forest isn't the biggest in the world, plus you can trace footsteps" – he picked up a crimson leaf – "with these handy devices here. Thanks for the message brother, you wait here."

The forests of Mokushu were actually surprisingly small; maybe only ten acres. As such, it did not take long for the archer to rally everyone, especially since the group were not especially fond on camouflage gear. Once he had grouped everyone together, he reported back to Ryoma.

Ryoma looked questioningly over his shoulder past his mane of spiky brown hair. "The man has not moved a muscle in all this time, he is surprisingly calm. We might need to scout for enemy reinforcements before we approach into his line of sight."

He thought for a moment. "Saizo, Rinkah, go scout out around the perimeter of the man. We will wait for your signal before approaching. Kaze, Takumi and Hinata, you should venture into Kotaro's sight. The others will assume a flanking role. We need to get as much info as we can out of this man, so you three, do not attack him."

Saizo and Rinkah nodded, and both went in separate directions. Presently they returned, surprisingly with an all clear signal. A group took a left route whilst another took a right, whilst the chosen three walked slowly into Kotaro's view.

Kotaro wielded his shuriken, preparing for an attack. However problems arose, as to his dismay, the three that stood a few hundred metres away from him did not have any resemblance to that of his real target. However, he could foresee another group coming in for a flank. The man's hearing was exceptional, which was very useful from a tactical perspective. Even though he was sure to die fighting here, he hoped that he could achieve the goal he had in mind from the very start.

Takumi walked closer, glancing at the groups both sides of him. He tried to make this action inconspicuous, seeing that Kaze had informed him that ninjas were the 'masters of sixth sense', and that any action he made could be interpreted by Kotaro, with potentially catastrophic consequences. The group to the right, led by Corrin and Oboro, had agreed to flank last, so Ryoma's group on the left could work to weaken the man. From what he could predict, Ryoma would use the electrical magic concealed in Raijinto to stun the man, leaving Corrin's group time to rush in.

Ryoma breathed heavily. His Raijinto ran parallel to his leg as he walked along, making slight crackling sounds from the lightning imbued in his sacred katana. He fully well knew that Kotaro would be able to predict a flank; it was just a matter of besting him at his own game. Raijinto's long range magic would hopefully be able to catch the Mokushujin off guard. He had to hope.

Corrin forced himself to remain calm. If Ryoma's plan worked, he would just have to rush in, Yato in hand, to get answers. Regardless, he remained nervous, pessimistic at the chances of the plan failing. Seeing Kotaro clutching his heptapoint shuriken calmly shook him to the core. Corrin could work out for himself that the shuriken was probably meant for him, so that was the reason behind his group being the follow up to the attack. Either way, he did not know how he could bait the menacing heptapoint shuriken if Ryoma's plan failed. He could just run in and hope for the best, like he had been doing for most of the battles up until now, but he corrected himself; surely Kotaro would be smarter than the other goons he had been normally facing?

Drawing level with Kotaro, and staying the same distance away from Ryoma, Corrin mouthed the signal to Ryoma. He gravely nodded back, and began to charge up the katana-tome. Streaks of lightning began to fill the weapon, creating more and more crackling sounds. The lightning, possessing the sword with grace, stopped charging. Its sparks began to lay dormant, as they became one with the katana. Soon Raijinto was dyed a mischievous yellow colour, surrounded by a visible aura of lethal magic. Ryoma took a deep breath, closed one eye, aimed at the ninja about twenty feet away from him, and fired.

Kotaro had heard the katana charging to his left from the very moment it had started. Needless to say, the sheer speed at which the long sword-like shape of translucent yellow horror was going surprised him. He started to dart away from the incoming projectile, which bared translucent yellow teeth, opened translucent yellow eyes, and flared translucent yellow nostrils. It was a perfect recreation of, to his horror, his very own face, and it approached him faster that what was imaginable. The projectile hit him in the leg, rendering it completely useless, and sending him rag dolling into the air. As he hit the floor, he instinctively put his hands behind him to take the brunt of blow.

That was his biggest mistake.

His body crushed down onto his heptapoint shuriken, which his hand was still clutching. Yelling out in pain, he cursed. What a stupid way to die. Not even to the enemy, but his own weapon? What kind of amateur would he be mistaken for by this group? He looked to the ground, promptly looking back at the sight of a liquid red dripping onto the ground. Despite this embarrassment, he was knowledgeable enough to understand that taking out the shuriken would only attract more blood. Reluctantly, he left it, and waited for death to take him. He had no intention of speaking to Corrin, or anyone else. He knew their plan, yet he failed to counter it. In many ways he deserved to die.

Oboro was the first to rush over, motherly instincts kicking in, even for the enemy. She winced at the pool of crimson, and, pulling out bandages, came over to tend to the lethal wound Kotaro had inflicted upon himself. However, she was denied by the Mokushujin.

"Why? Wouldn't you prefer to live? If you amend your ways and come back to Hoshido, we have plenty of room to forgive you," she responded to Kotaro's denial.

"I don't deserve it." Kotaro stumbled out the words through his teeth. "I'd rather die than come back to Hoshido. May King Garon triumph in this war. The Nohrians will come through! "

Oboro looked with eyes full of fury. Thoughts of sorrow and ire overflowed in her mind. She remembered the day, the day of her parents' demise, as vividly as if she were reliving it. Her parents were tailors, and she loved them; her mother would make all sorts of clothes, including Oboro's favourite to craft, kimonos. Happy memories crafted themselves into her pure Nohrian hatred. Struggling to resist the urge to stab the man before her in the heart, she just walked away, leaving him to die. Corrin, taken aback by Oboro's animosity, stared at her, imagined how she must have felt. He had been told her story on their travels: he always felt sympathy for her, and he was filled with sorrow every time she mentioned it. Because of this, he completely ignored the man lying sprawling on the floor, and instead focused on comforting Oboro.

Sakura crept up to Kotaro, nervosity filling up all of her body, and extending to her festal, which was sweaty in her grip. To her horror, the man who impaled himself was now dead, with a pool of blood muddied by the dirt of the forest floor. She developed extreme goosebumps, despite the relatively warm overall Hoshidan climate. Although a shy girl, she suddenly felt the urge to yell out to everyone to run. She backed down from this opportunity, blushing even at the thought of it. Instead she approached her brother, Takumi. Her siblings and retainers were the people she found it easiest to have a conversation with; Corrin had tried to improve her confidence over the months, with decent results.

"Takumi?" she whispered. "I think the man is d-dea-d." She felt a cold sweat running down her forehead and realised she was shaking as if it was freezing.

"Sakura. You can hold on to my arm for now. We just have to move on. I will tell Ryoma to move on as soon as we can to make camp. It will be fine when you're with us."

Takumi smiled. Although younger than Hinoka, Corrin and Ryoma, he was still older than Sakura, so he could still see himself as somewhat mature when compared with his siblings. He passed on the message to Ryoma, who led the group west, further approaching the west coast, and leaving a defeated Mokushu behind.

* * *

Corrin yawned, awoken by the telltale tweets of the native birds. He lay on his futon, appreciating the softness of its cotton as a chance to flow free from the aches and pains that constrained him. Feeling the heat of the morning sun penetrating the thin layers of his quarters, he propped himself up on his knees, back into the world of reality. In the plains where the camp was based, the sun was a much more prominent feature of the landscape, a stark contrast to the little impact it had on the Mokushujin environment. Using the sun as a get-up call, he instinctively did all his morning procedures: washing, dressing and the like. Emerging from among the neat rows of tents, Corrin heard the mass of the Hoshidans getting ready for the day; if their bustling around was any indication. Although literally the complete opposite of the lifestyle he had lived as a young Nohrian prince, he consumed weird vibes of his childhood and early adulthood whenever he emerged from his tent. Maybe it was the way that the embrace of nature aroused him in the same way Flora and Felicia, Corrin's maids did with their icy breath of the Nohrian Ice Tribe origin. Or maybe it was the sheer contrast of it that was what triggered the vibes. Corrin shrugged it off normally, because he struggled to find any similarities between the two scenarios; even Felicia, his retainer, who had remained loyal to Corrin through his 'betrayal' to Nohr, thought it was best not to help the prince with his morning procedures (maybe, Corrin thought, to prevent embarrassment), and slept in the bachelorette part of the temporary residential district that they so often built.

As usual, Corrin tried not to dwell on his thoughts too much; he decided to take a stroll around the camp, checking to whoever's shift it was for daily duties. These daily duties included scavenging food from nearby orchards and fields, checking or setting up the traps for meat, organising and running the armouries, crafting wooden weapons for training, and cooking and preparing meals for the day. It was safe to say that some were better fit for cooking; Corrin had gathered that Hinoka and her retainers definitely did not gracefully serve up a dish accustomed to everyone's tastes, so he was ready to skip dinner when their shifts came – once they joined the group.

Walking around to the mess hall, Corrin sensed the sweet scent of one of the most prominent Hoshidan fruits, peaches. When the group had left the capital, they took with them the freshest Hoshidan provisions: peaches, daikons, fish and the like. Of course, all of these supplies had been devoured after two weeks of hard walking, but since Hoshido was known to embrace nature, they found many orchards, lakes and fields where they could find more of these foods. Now lakes were few in number, the job had been switched to setting up traps for meat, which normally was surprisingly successful. As such, all sorts of wild smells all flowed at different times throughout the hall and camp, a sign of luxury food to come.

Corrin lifted the flap over his hand, ducking under the entrance and enjoying the sickly sweet scent coming from around the corner. Turning his head, he spotted Sakura amidst an abundance of fresh peaches on an iron tray. Sakura was pouring a sticky mixture onto the peaches, coating them evenly and giving the fruits a gleam unmatched by any other shine. Corrin felt a duty to watch Sakura caramelise the peaches – it was his shift soon, and he did not desire the opportunity to join the ranks of bad chefs, so he followed every moment, trying to commit it to muscle memory.

"Oh, Corrin! H-hi!"

She turned her head whilst still managing to coat the peaches evenly. Although the little red-haired girl was timid by nature, Corrin's friendly and understanding nature had helped her warm up to many of the Hoshidans. Although she still stuttered from time to time, Corrin was genuinely impressed with how she had changed since he met her after being captured by Kaze and Rinkah.

"Hey Sakura. Is that breakfast? The peaches look great."

Corrin began to follow Sakura as she opened up a flap to where a fire was burning outside, and then took the tray with her.

"Yes, it is! I h-have prepared some caramelised peaches. There will be plenty to go around; I hope everyone enjoys my food!"

Sakura gently lowered the tray onto a metal stand which overhung the fire, and left the peaches to simmer and caramelise.

Corrin grinned. "It's my turn to prepare breakfast soon, can you give me some tips? I don't want to be seen as bad a cook as Rinkah." He laughed at this remark, knowing that whenever Rinkah cooked, the group would prefer to fast for a day, however nice the meal sounded.

"Um, well for the p-peaches, you have to…"

* * *

"Hyaaah!"

Oboro gripped the wooden naginata strongly in her battle-scarred hands. She was getting fatigued, lashing constantly out at Hinata, her fellow retainer. Hinata, swishing his ponytail at regular interviews, was wielding a wooden katana which was beginning to splinter from Oboro's offense. His constant parrying of her constant attacks made him sceptical to his own offensive capabilities. Sure, his defence obviously worked, if parrying was anything to go by, but if he couldn't put that defence to good use, he would never be as good a warrior as Oboro said he was. After all, the curved shape in the weapon he specialised in, the katana, was designed for offensive purposes. However, for Hinata, actually being able to approach Oboro was a problem. Even though her naginata was smaller than most, at six feet in total, she held the naginata slightly in front of her, meaning she was still about three feet away from the blade of her weapon. Although Hinata knew damage of the weapon relative to the blade was small, with skill, the naginata could overpower any other, and that was perhaps why Hinata admired Oboro's fighting skills so much.

Oboro stepped back and took a deep breath. Hinata was excellently blocking her attacks, but had not been courageous enough to go for an attack. Even after only five minutes, both of their wooden blades were beginning to crack and splinter. It was only a matter of time before one shattered; their normal personalised iron weapons were preserved for non-training battles, so they did not have to be unnecessarily polished or repaired. The many wooden ones which were only for spars were quickly put together and as such had a very small lifetime. This was a problem, as training led to splinters covering the otherwise natural arena.

Wielding her naginata in a defensive stance, Oboro used the method she had been taught at the very start of learning naginatajutsu to align her feet with the blade and the middle of the handle. This would give her the upper hand and would also make her footwork clean and effective,which would hopefully allow her to outsmart Hinata. Her fellow retainer took the bait, lunging forward, katana continuing the straight line his arms made. Oboro sidestepped to the right. He was now vulnerable to her attacks. Expertly twisting the naginata, she hit Hinata's armor with the wooden blade. The wood did not make so much of a stratch against the iron of the plate, however it snapped instantly, sending splinters ricocheting everywhere. Both of the retainers instinctively shielded themselves from the mass of wooden bullets coming their way, preventing most of the shards hitting their skin. As Oboro listened to the splinters piercing her armour, she looked at the naginata which was now just a bladeless stick in her hand. The training sessions were never long due to the incompetence of the wood; the match was over as soon as anyone's blade broke. Hinata inspected his sword, which was also cracked, but smiled and walked over to Oboro.

"Aww man! You're one tough cookie, Oboro!" Hinata chuckled in his usual, almost painfully casual way of speaking. "You gotta teach me sometime!" He propped the damaged katana on his shoulder, as other Hoshidans gathered for morning practice.

"Hinata, what do I keep telling you? Lord Takumi"-she said Lord Takumi in a distant trance, which Hinata interpreted as a dream of the future when the two were married-"is happy with both of our abilities, I see no reason for you to improve. I only won because I had the weapon advantage, you see? You can definitely hold your own in battle; you've proved that multiple times. Besides, Lord Takumi"-another trance-"would not want you to be displeased at your ability, would he? I think it's best for everyone to count their advantages and think optimistically. Just look at Setsuna; she is the most optimistic person I've ever met, although... heh, a bit oblivious at times."

Hinata thought for a moment as they walked in the direction of the mess hall. "You know, Oboro? You're great. I still wish I could be like you, but you're a great friend and one tough cookie, if I do say so myself!" he said, before chuckling at Oboro's confused face, which seemed to mirror the whole prospect of the journey to Nohr for him. Regardless, he retained a slightly serious attitude (completely serious was an impossibility for some Hoshidans).

"Thanks, Hinata."

Oboro had taken off her wooden breastplate and was lugging it behind her. She was wearing her usual blue and baby orange fitted kimono under the breastplate; Hinata was pretty sure Oboro had atleast five variants of her uniform, all handmade by her. Her love for sewing, pattern cutting, designing and the like was almost a gene passed down by her parents; she was the tailor to the group, supplying them with tunics, dresses, leggings and kimonos to wear either on the battlefield or on a normal day at the camp.

"Sorry for the short talk, but I have to deliver my armour to… Kagero, is it? She's on duty right now, I think… and then I have to check the animal traps. I'll see you later!"

The seamstress took a turn for a big tent located on the eastern most side of the camp, still lugging the breastplate. Hinata walked alone, listening to calls of birds echoing off the branches which lined the southern forest, and entered the mess hall.

* * *

Hinoka looked up. All she could see were the stars, protruding out of what was otherwise a clear, night blue sky. Placing her gloved hands instinctively on her pegasus Zena, she stepped slowly forwards, eyes still stuck at the night sky, hands still stroking Zena's snow white fur. Notre Sagesse had proven to be a great help to both her and her retainers, but she wished to get back in touch with the army, especially to her husband and baby daughter. It had been some months, and as a liege she felt as if she had failed her mother, since her retainers had not had the pleasure of meeting Corrin. Especially given that he was the sole reason for her relationship with Zena today, she wanted nothing than to be able to prove herself in battle to him, and to also be able to explain to him what it meant to her when he was captured.

She smoothed her short, red and white armour. Although Hinoka normally hated armour, she admired the craftsmanship that Oboro had shown when making it. It was light, and the shoulder guards were sown against a comfortable white leather strip. The standard royal crest was sown on both sides of her chest: the crest was designed to be reminiscent of the official Hoshidan emblem. It was something that Hinoka appreciated almost as much as she appreciated Zena.

Although Azama, one of her retainers, hated her for it, she always allowed the both of them to get more sleep than her. As such, whilst the two were asleep, Hinoka was still out staring into the night sky. She started thinking, thinking about what would have happened if Corrin chose to side with the Nohrians she had come to loathe over the years. She cringed at the prospect of seeing Corrin as an enemy, however, for the time being, she just tried to be grateful at the fact that he had sided with the kingdom he had not known for long. The repose that surrounded her after a hard day was absorbed and cherished, and she smiled, knowing that the world was the very embrace of fate itself. As she finished petting her pegasus, she turned towards the west, hoping for days of reunion in a foreign land.

* * *

 **A/N: (This is written after the chapter and before I write the foreword - I'm writing this before starting chapter 2 and the foreword is written just before publication) So that was it. I honestly think I overdid this part with trying to expand upon elements in the game, as well as trying new ideas. I just felt I had to fill in all the backstory up to this point, and get a few interactions between characters. However, as different scenarios not located in Birthright begin to arise hopefully my creativity can shine through. The story will not be focusing primarily on the battles; most of it will focus on the normal daily life of the Hoshidans and Corrin / Setsuna.**

 **Next chapter might (edit: Setsuna's first appearance is in chapter 3) involve the introduction of Setsuna to Corrin, it will be fun writing their little scenes before they get to know each other, especially with Setsuna's personality. It might come the week after this is published, or a fortnight after. Regardless, I'll make a schedule and try to stick to it.**

 **Also try to correct my grammar if you see mistakes, it really helps in the long run for me.**

 **-Ben**


	2. Retainers and a Prince

**_Absent-minded_**

 _ **Chapter 2: Retainers and a Prince**_

 **Foreword: I have decided that I will upload these on a Saturday/ Sunday.**

 **Next chapter will include Setsuna, I promise. Then, I can start experimenting with a romance/humour (since I'm British, please don't criticise (not criticize) me for my non-American spelling :P) genre that I'm looking forward to write.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoy, feel free to point out grammar / spelling (well, atleast not non-American) mistakes, any feedback as well as suggestions for the future.**

* * *

The saturated oranges of the sun warmed the air, evaporating the cool nocturnal mist. The sea was dyed a baby orange, a stark contrast to the indigo that the night had bestowed upon it. Blossoming trees lined the streets of the port town in tranquil repose, comparable to that of a Hoshidan scroll painting. The warren of streets was peaceful, unmoved by the bloody feud which enveloped them. Treasuring this tranquility, a Hoshidan prince, sitting down on the edge of the promenade, was absorbed by the morning colours. Every crisp colour revolved around him, settling in an aura which protected him from the physical hardships battle provided.

Corrin appreciated the change in atmosphere. In the time they had spent at the port town, he felt his personality could evolve, into one light-hearted and casual. It had never felt like this when they were camping. However much it suited him, the serious personality he had retained for most of the journey, was not so much an appropriate mood, more so as a betrayal to what his idealised true colours were. The unpredictable vibes that their travels had provided had forced him down the leaderlike route, and, as much as he did not want to admit it to himself, he wanted to be a retainer even more than he wanted to be a liege, to get away from the sleepless nights that came with maintaining army morale.

Yet he knew that he would get to relive those sleepless nights, perhaps even more frequently, in Nohr. Because he had grown up there, he felt a shiver down his spine at the 'brutality of all Nohrians', something everyone seemed to stress, including Ryoma. He dwelled sadly on the memories he had made with his Nohrian 'siblings': Xander and Camilla, who were older than him, and Leo and Elise, who were younger. Seeing that they were so friendly to him, he never doubted that they were not his actual siblings; he assumed that Nohrians were kindly people, and was always surprised at his Hoshidan friends and real family making such a point to say that Nohr was an evil place. He replayed a conversation between him and Takumi at Fort Jinya, after he saved Sakura.

" _I still don't trust you, Corrin._ " Corrin could relive this conversation as many times as he wanted, but he always shivered at the way that Takumi spat his name in disgust.

" _Takumi… I understand your scepticism. However, I will continue to serve Hoshido until you put your faith in me; and after that too._ "

" _Pfft. Anyone would say that. You even brought a friend along! How many times do I have to say, I only follow you because Brother respects you, but I won't be afraid to put an arrow through your back if necessary._ "

" _I apologise again, but Silas has become a knight and mastered both sword and spear fighting in order to reunite with me. I don't like to kill already defeated troops, and especially if it is my best friend from my childhood._ "

" _Hmmph. Oboro would agree with me - you never know with Nohrian scum._ "

Every time he thought about Nohr, this conversation floated back into memory. Although Takumi had eventually warmed up to the two of them, he still believed that underneath that friendliness was still a layer of hatred. But although Corrin and Takumi weren't on the best of terms, his retainers, Oboro and Hinata were two of Corrin's best friends. Unlike Takumi, they had warmed up to Corrin very quickly (even given Oboro's hatred of Nohrians), the three becoming fast friends. They always seemed to pounce at the opportunity to ask him questions, including their favourite one to ask him, "Got anyone you fancy yet Corrin?"

He would always want to despise their addiction to those six words; however it always evolved into a good joke which always warmed Corrin's heart. They also were part of the half who were the unmarried ones in the army; a strange 'love-virus' - a term used by Hinata - seemed to fall around the whole group, apparently over the process of about two years before Corrin chose to side with Hoshido. As Hinata had said, "You' _d see Hana and Kaze wearing rings on their fingers looking at each other weirdly, and then you would see Saizo and Orochi mid- you know_ ," before the three always burst into laughter. It was no secret to Corrin and Hinata that Oboro had a strong infatuation with Takumi, and although Oboro was embarrassed when they had managed to interpret her words as that, it had been one big thing that had fused their friendship. The question they loved to ask him normally ended up in a " _Hmm, I've heard Takumi is pretty cute_ " – followed by a blush from Oboro, or " _Nope, how about you, Hinata? You know, your liege looks good for you_ " – followed by another blush from Oboro. These interactions – which happened often – promised a great time for Corrin, and also for the two retainers. It was because of this that Corrin even speculated about whether to stretch to become Takumi's retainer to spend more time with the two.

As if by magic, he heard a "Hey, Lord Corrin!" in a familiar voice. He shifted around and stood up, looking at the gleeful face of Oboro. She wore a dark blue dress which complemented her hair; which she had flowing down to her waist when she wasn't wearing her uniform. The dress seemed to be fitted exactly to Oboro's size, which was an obvious indication that it was one of the many things she had handmade. ' _By now, it's worth hand making a wardrobe so it fits all her outfits perfectly_ ,' Corrin thought sarcastically. But the prince could not deny that the dress suited her; she seemed to have been wearing it since they arrived but, knowing Oboro, she had probably made seven different versions of the dress. They had been here a week, arranging for a ship to carry them to Nohr.

"Oboro, just call me Corrin, I prefer it that way." This was how most conversations started. Corrin knew Oboro would never listen, always addressing him as Corrin for about two minutes then returning to 'Milord' or something similar, through her instincts. "Anyway, can you tell me why you are smiling like you are? I can't think of any news that would make you this happy."

The seamstress walked over from the entrance, gingerly running her fingers down her hair. "We're going to set sail tomorrow. It's an early start, Lord Ryoma wants us to spend the day preparing rather than hanging around in the town all day."

"Oh. But that doesn't really explain your smile. Surely you will miss not having to do the shifts, and not having a room to sleep in?" Corrin replied. He thought that Oboro would be annoyed, seeing that she had a deep hatred for their destination.

"No, I'm happy for you, Corrin! I suppose you know what we are going to do when we arrive?"

"Um, walk? As much as I want to say I am, I'm not really following you."

"Don't you know? We're meeting up with Hinoka and her retainers!" Oboro grinned from ear to ear.

"What?" Corrin was very surprised. In the month they had been travelling since silencing Mokushu, no one had so much as mentioned his older sister's name, and as such he had managed to completely forget about the existence of Hinoka, as well as her retainers. He did not know that Hinoka was meeting up with them with Nohr; he supposed it would have been obvious if he thought about it.

His sister.

All those years he never remembered her, and now it felt like four months without seeing her was an eternity. Seeing the strong bonds he had developed with most of the army, he wondered what his sister's retainers would be like. More importantly, he wanted to spend time with Hinoka, seeing if he could fill in all the details he had missed on his 'pilgrimage to Nohr' as Ryoma had called it. From his siblings he had already obtained some info; however it proved hard to get them to talk, all of them saying they were ashamed that he was captured. Regardless, time would prove to be beneficial to Corrin and his information scavenging, as the rope holding the army together strengthened day by day.

"I just completely forgot about her," he said, blushing in response to Oboro's half amused, half confused face, "so we are meeting them in Nohr?" He flinched. He had just unlocked the door to Oboro's hostility, which was admittedly very easy for him to trigger.

"Well. That's exactly what I'm _not_ looking forward to." Oboro frowned, looking at her dress. The dress reminded her of the craftsmanship that she had inherited from her mother and father, all the happy memories she made, sitting outside with her parents, weaving and sewing kimonos and all sorts of other clothes for their shop. Before she knew it, hot tears ran down the seamstress's eyes. She couldn't stop them; whenever she returned to those memories, whether she liked it or not, she would find herself crying a few seconds after.

"Oboro, I'm sorry." Corrin said apologetically, placing a comforting hand around her cobalt blue hair. "I know that you have no reason to trust the land you will have to walk through, especially given what happened to you. However, you have to stay strong in times like these. Remember, not all Nohrians are bad people; there are bad people in Hoshidan lands too, like the people of Mokushu."

The pieces slowly arranged themselves for the prince. "Is this why I have been seeing you outside late at night? You seem to always look to the west. Why?"

Oboro swiftly recomposed herself. "Milord… you must excuse my behaviour. But, I was staying up far later than anyone else, mostly to mourn for my parents. On any moonless night, I can't help but remember. Lord Ryoma has stressed for us to rest well, however I have spent most of my time trying to control my hatred for Nohr. I have many allies and have made good friends during my time in Lord Takumi's service, but I sometimes lust for solitude, in order to spend some time thinking. But in that solitude, I lust for friends and allies to be around me. It is a strange process that I can't stop myself from going through. I appreciate your words Corrin, but the long-term enmity perhaps will never wear off."

Corrin sighed. When Takumi and his retainers first joined the army, he had noticed that Oboro was always staying up late to clean. As the days and weeks had passed, he had discovered that the seamstress did this in order to take her mind off her tragic past. When he had figured it out, Oboro was surprisingly open to him, despite him being notionally a Nohrian. Upon further talking and bonding, she said that her past didn't really bother her anymore thanks to his concern. Unfortunately, the ire she possessed seemed to have been refilled, presumably by Mokushu.

"You know, Oboro? Maybe the best thing to do is confess to Takumi. It's no secret that you're in love with him."

Oboro blushed against her dark blue attire. "But Corrin, why would that help? It would definitely make me happy, but he wouldn't accept my proposal-"

"Oboro." Corrin gave her a deep, meaningful stare. "Having someone to help you through the darkness is something you will savour, and have huge gratitude for. Maybe this isn't right to come from me, since I'm not in a relationship; however I think if you asked anyone here who is married, I can imagine that they would tell you the same thing. Plus, I think you'll be surprised with his answer," the prince said, chuckling at his last sentence.

"Milord – I mean Corrin. I have to stay strong in times like this. If I had a husband and child to comfort me, it would just prevent me from being brave and out of my comfort zone. Sometime you just have to be in a mindset that war is good for both our physical and mental strength. Even though I want to, I feel like the time to propose to Takumi is when my past doesn't bother me. I understand that our views on this are different; but both you and Hinata aren't _exactly_ masters of relationship. I mean, haha, if the infants accompanying us is any indication, half of our army is married. But thank you for the input you have had. From the very first night you caught me cleaning to today, you definitely have been a supportive friend who managed to slightly change my thoughts about Nohr."

Oboro smiled. "Plus, I have you two. Isn't that enough light to guide me through the darkness?" She awkwardly embraced Corrin, and the prince, aware of his cheeks flushing, absentmindedly mirrored the action. The seamstress smiled, and the two friends shared a moment before she pulled away, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Anyway, preparing earlier will give me a chance to go out into the town for one last time, so I need to retrieve my naginata from the armoury next door and then clean my wardrobe. Could you help me to prepare, Lord Corrin? I know this may seem insensitive, seeing as I am a ways below your social station, but I can help you with your packing too if you want." Oboro gave a sympathetic look to the prince.

Corrin laughed. "Oboro, I have been insensitive too, questioning about your past. But isn't that what friendship is about? Perhaps if we pack quickly, we can meet Hinata along the promenade or in the centre of town."

Oboro flashed a nonchalant look at Corrin as she beckoned for him to come inside, shutting the inn door after him. It was quite early; Ryoma and the ninjas were wide awake as usual, apart from Kaze, who was sharing a room with his wife Hana – who normally had a tendency to sleep in unless Lady Sakura needed her. Aside from the three, who appeared to be deep in study, not many of the Hoshidans seemed to be awake. Although on further thought, Corrin thought how Ryoma had stressed rest for the past week, and was prepared to take it as him and Oboro getting up early.

The two friends walked through a passage which led from the inn to the neighbouring armoury. All of the Hoshidans' weapons lay dormant behind a counter. They were divided into sub-categories, and hung up with rope on a wooden rail, hanging one hundred and fifty centimetres above the floor. Walking through the gap between the counter and the wall, Oboro filed carefully through the naginata section of the armoury, until she came across a relatively short one, with familiar cobalt blue stripes running vertically down the handle. Undoing the knot which kept her naginata fastened to the rail, Oboro glanced to her left, seeing Corrin checking for inscriptions on a katana, his blue hair complimenting the white paint of the wall. With a telltale grin, Corrin fiddled with his hands – Oboro assumed he was undoing the knot – and drew his Yato with a childish smile of reunion plastered all over his features. He then returned it into its sheath and fastened it to his waist, gesturing for Oboro to go.

* * *

The rest of the day was a blur to Corrin. Whilst he was helping Oboro, he was stimulated by the conversation he had had with the seamstress today. Being the forgivingly-minded person that he was, he spent much of this time pondering over the best way to help her. This proved to be fruitless, every after filing through every inner working of his brain, and as the afternoon began to concede to the silver lined clouds, he decided to stop before he drove himself mad. Because of this typical Nohrian weather (which blew south east, covering south west Hoshido in cloud), the Hoshidans ended up with little to do as they watched relentless droplets cascade down from the safety of their chambers. Oboro returned to some projects after she had helped Corrin pack, sitting down at a table in the hall with a sewing box in one hand and many sorts of clothing in another. Corrin meanwhile had been assisting Hinata with his packing, doing small things like retrieving his katana from the armoury, and polishing his breastplate.

Now, Corrin was ordered by Ryoma to attend a war council meeting. Because of Corrin's important position, it was compulsory for him to attend, which annoyed him. It would obviously include a briefing detailing background information about Nohr, their planned route through the nation, potential stopping points, territory control, Nohrian cuisine and then some. After that, there would probably be many questions which would add atleast an hour to the meeting's length, due to the high prince's tendency to clear concerns in a very detailed fashion. Corrin knew that this was important information that would aid their conquest, however it was not good for his, or anyone else's brain to process and digest hours' worth of information at one time. Sometimes he wished he was just a humble retainer and not a prince. Jakob and Felicia did not normally attend these meetings; nor did _any_ retainers. For Ryoma, Hinoka - when she would join the Hoshidans, Corrin and Takumi, who were four of the five lieges (Sakura was always reluctant to go since she hated the war and valued peace over anything), almost every meeting was mandatory to go to, whatever importance it was to them.

The hall was mix of many things. On the left side, there were many benches for dining, and a staircase, which led up to a balcony running round the perimeter of the room, housing all the chambers. This was another staircase on the right side, close to the living area, which had a shelf of entertainment, including an abundance of parks of cards and many futons circled around an area for playing card games. The middle wall housed a counter, and a fire for cooking. There were more rooms located off all sides of the hall, for storage, more chambers, and offices.

At the back of the hall, there was a side room, which was slightly ajar. This was the location Ryoma had chosen for the meeting, and although it was small, everyone could fit in reasonably well. The four siblings entered the room, followed by four of the retainers, chosen by each liege, and Azura. Felicia, Hinata, Kagero and Subaki had been selected, most to their dismay. Ryoma sat down at a desk, choosing to have his back to the back wall. There was another chair opposite him, but none of them sat in it, preferring to stand, making up a semi-circle.

"Right. We have a lot to talk about before we make way for Nohr tomorrow. Questions can be asked, but I do not want to be in here any longer than I have to."

The eight nodded blankly at Ryoma, who still chose to wear his ruby red armour, even when not in battle.

Ryoma started, leaning back slightly on his mane of brown hair. "If you are unfamiliar with tomorrow's procedures, I have pinned a notice up in the hall. All of you should check it promptly after this meeting, and I advise that you let the others know about this. It will be an early start, so I am still going to stress to you that sleep is one of your best friends in this war. Fatigue is the last thing we want, especially in a battle. So, rest your senses tonight, and wake up fresh and optimistic for the day ahead of you.

"Now that that is out of the way, the question is Nohr. With the help of Felicia and Jakob, I have become informed of different landmarks that will be beneficial to our journey."

"Er... no problem! It's my pleasure to be helpful, Lord Ryoma." Felicia seemed flustered at being mentioned, which made Corrin suppress a laugh. For a maid and retainer, she was not skilled at doing maid-like and retainer-like things, unlike her fellow retainer and husband Jakob, so she was not used to being helpful despite the amount of reassurance Corrin had given her.

"At ease, Felicia." The high prince gave a hint of a smile at the maid. "So, the boat will take us to the south eastern peak of Nohr. From there we will head north to the kingdom of Nestra, more specifically the port city of Cyrkensia."

Whilst giving the explanation, he traced his finger over a map of both nations, with annotations at points of interest. Corrin guessed that the map was annotated with the help of his retainers.

"This will act as a break in the journey, since Nestra, like Izumo is a neutral location. However, we cannot remain there for long. Even though the official Nohrian border is about one month _at best_ from it, it doesn't stop them from controlling kingdoms outside these borders. So, we have to acknowledge the fact that even if we aren't officially in Nohr, we are still in danger of forces there, and most of the kingdoms are still deemed as Nohrian – like with southern Hoshidan nations, which we look at as part of Hoshido. Once we get to the border, I stress that there will be no turning back, and no one will judge you if you decide it is too much for you."

Ryoma looked up from the map which was pressed onto the table, pausing to accommodate for questions.

"Hmm… any idea on the length of this journey, Lord Ryoma?"

Hinata blurted out his words, emphasising the awkwardness of the silence.

"Hinata, I cannot say for sure. Travelling through Nohr will be very unpredictable; we may want to stop and rest at some other locations, we may get caught up with many battles, we may get diverted. It is beneficial that we do not come up with a specific time at this point, as it may only provoke disappointment in the future."

Hinata looked content with Ryoma's answer, but the high prince had realised most of the Hoshidans' scepticism during his patrols in the camp, so he elaborated on what was most likely Hinata's worries.

"We may be used to the forever-blossoming trees, the ore-filled springs, the fresh cuisine, the familiar residential style. But we just have to adapt to the changes the world bestows upon us, especially in times like this. South Hoshido has shown a few cultural differences to where we started our journey and you seem to have had no problem with them; it is a good indication that we are prepared for change, even though we like the original best."

This answer was met with some approving nods and various conferring between the eight. Ryoma simply swished his mane to the side and patiently waited for them to finish.

To Corrin's dismay, the conversations had sprouted many more questions, the many hands up a great indication of this. It looked like even the overview of the journey would have to be slow. Ryoma caught Corrin's expression, and looked into his younger brother's eyes, with a look which Corrin interpreted as ' _I know this will take long, but this is going to benefit you._ '

Sighing, Corrin looked forlornly at the many raised hands, and prepared for a few hours of derailed information, and nothingness.

* * *

The door to the hall opened after a long, question-filled meeting. Corrin looked straight ahead, seeing the others who hadn't attended playing Hoshidan card games. From the mass of shouting and laughing coming from the living area, Corrin guessed that they were playing 'Stock Market', a game played frequently at a Hoshidan party or event, which involved assigning each card to a Hoshidan food, and trading with others to obtain all thirteen of one food.

Hearing the door open, the noise died down as the players turned round. They instinctively spread out, allowing the other Hoshidans to join in the card game. Corrin sat next to Oboro, who was clutching a losing thirteen, shortly followed by Hinata. They were going to start explaining to her what had conspired in the meeting but thought against it, as Ryoma stood up on a futon to explain the meeting to them.

Whilst Ryoma was talking, Corrin was thinking about the 'briefing', but on whatever the opposite was of what Ryoma was saying. In the meeting, Ryoma had cleared up almost all doubts, given as much background information as possible, and there were still more questions after Ryoma had decided that the meeting had gone on long enough. The high prince, with the help of Felicia, had told them the Nohrian alternative to their normal foods, some of the recipes that Felicia had agreed to write down for everyone, and many other questions related to cuisine. Questions were raised about Nohr geographically, which Ryoma also answered with –Corrin thought deliberately – great detail. He would have been surprised that the meeting lasted that long if it wasn't Ryoma answering the questions. But, admittedly, he had found out some new stuff and taken them on board with him.

Once Ryoma had finished his briefing, he sat down next to Sakura on the futon, still donning his ceremonial armour. The evening began promptly, letting the Hoshidans sit down, relax and play some card games, ready for setting out tomorrow. For Corrin, it was a chance to converse with Oboro and Hinata, who also had plenty to talk about. Playing as a trio, multitasking between chatting and playing required little effort.

"I always wondered, both of you."

Corrin gestured his hand at the two retainers, before inconspicuously pointing to their liege.

"Why are your haircuts very similar to Brother's when you aren't relaxing like here? Is it just coincidence, or…?"

Oboro and Hinata exchanged looks briefly and smiled. The seamstress opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, as you know we pledge to be a better retainer to Lord Takumi than the other. We try to do this through our service, as well as other things, like-"

"Your so-called advantage because of your relationship?"

"Hinata! There are other people here!"

Oboro lashed out, slapping Hinata squarely on the jaw. Corrin winced as the resonating sound reverberated from every wall. Despite the seemingly fierce noise that the three of them heard, no one else seemed to notice. Hinata rubbed his jaw, and then smiled sarcastically at Corrin.

The seamstress was angered; her feelings for Takumi, although obvious to anyone who looked explicitly for them, were only known between her liege, Hinata and Corrin. "Would you like it someone just implied about your feelings when everyone else is in earshot? I mean, no offense, but you two don't have much chance of getting a relationship, so you will never feel that pain."

She chuckled, but instantly retracted her statement when Hinata looked at her with murderous intent. "I'm just joking! Well, maybe not for Corrin…"

Corrin looked at her solemnly, flicking through their deck absentmindedly. "The funny thing is, it's true. I just… don't feel like I have any interest in a relationship. I hardly have feelings for anyone here."

"Sometimes you gotta live dangerously! But even if that's your choice, we won't stop asking!"

Oboro laughed at the statement, as did Corrin. But it was true. He knew many things, yet his brain could not function, nor have interest at the thought of a relationship.

The seamstress took another card from the pile in the middle. "You know Hinata, you can be a jerk to both me and Corrin at times."

"Uh, you brought up Corrin's relationship, and you slapped me. Doesn't that mean you're also a jerk to both of us?"

Frowning at Hinata's statement, Oboro gestured to Corrin, obviously not wanting to answer the question directly. "I swear that you have never been insensitive to us. Your pacifism shows all the time, you should lose that attitude sometimes. I never thought I'd say this, but although I admit that you do have quite a casual outlook around us, you should… not be afraid to be weird around us. Be a jerk all you want."

The three sitting on the futon found this very amusing, in whatever seriousness it was meant to be taken in. Looking at their deck, they were doing surprisingly well for mainly focusing on chatting between themselves, as they watched others rubbing their temples in contention.

"Anyway… where was I? Oh, so we also try to prove our allegiance to Lord Takumi by looking similar to him, specifically in hairstyle."

Corrin had a look of complete confusion plastered on his face. "And how does this prove your allegiance to Brother?"

"I was getting on to that. We both aspire to be like Lord Takumi one day. I think why we're so competitive is because we want to be more allegiant than one another. And I think that changing your appearance to reflect your master shows a sense of appreciation towards them. We have had our hairstyles ever since entering Lord Takumi's service because they are similar to his, and I think Hinata would believe that too."

"Well, since Oboro served Lord Takumi before me, she originally styled my hair when I took over from the previous retainer," Hinata added.

Corrin nodded, processing the information he had just heard. "Well, I didn't even realise that was the reason. I guess that's a testament to how fitting they look. But why do you not retain the look when you aren't in your uniform, Oboro?"

"Well, because my haircut is more similar to Lord Takumi's than Hinata's, I think that it is insensitive to have it like that when you are not obviously his retainer, because for people that don't recognise me, I would just be blatantly copying Lord Takumi's hairstyle. It is a pretty common Hoshidan hairstyle, but as a retainer I feel it is my duty not to hinder the stylishness of it."

"Seems like a good enough explanation. Although, seeing as you love fashion, I would imagine that you would prefer to have lots of different hairstyles rather than sticking to just one?"

Oboro blushed deeply, gasping at how easy it had been for Corrin to interpret her answer as something else. "My… my allegiance is to Lord Takumi," she simply stated, regathering herself.

"Hah! You cracked her! The seamstress hates her hairstyle! The things she does to please her crush-"

Before Hinata knew it, his other jaw came into contact with Oboro's calloused hands, and the sound everyone else ignored reverberated around the room once more.

"Hinata, I said to stop! But… admittedly, I much prefer this haircut to my uniform one. But please don't tell anyone, especially Lord Takumi. He's been promoting some of my sewing and weaving as of late, and I've never seen him be this thoughtful to my work. It would be heart breaking for you to break this bond we are developing."

Hinata and Corrin found themselves cringing at Oboro's use of words. They sounded deliberately romantic, and knew that was what Oboro intended. This spurred a silence, as they returned to the card game. Realising that Hinata and Corrin were not prepared to speak further on the matter, Oboro gritted her teeth and smoothed her dress.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?"

Oboro placed her head in her hands at that statement. It reminded her of her parents, igniting an awkward silence between her mother, father and her with a strange question. Nevertheless, Corrin turned his head.

"Well, I think that from here on out that the road will be both more mentally and more physically challenging from here, so in that regard, I am kind of dreading it. But I am looking forward to meeting Sister and her retainers, since I haven't seen Sister in some months, and have never met her retainers."

The samurai ran his hand through his bangs. "Well, her retainers are definitely… eccentric I guess? I think we'll just leave you to see them for yourself rather than trying to explain their personalities for you. I think Hinoka will be pleased to see you, though. You should've seen her attitude towards getting you back when you were kidnapped! She learnt how to ride a pegasus, and took over the lead role of the pegasus knights with Subaki just so she could see you, and you have to appreciate this fact."

"Yes. I vaguely remember when I was captured by Rinkah and Kaze, all those months ago. When I went to the capital, and said that I was called Corrin, Hinoka was seemingly very pleased to see me. Of course, I couldn't appreciate it at the time, because I didn't know she was related to me."

Corrin put his hand on his chin in thought. "Where even are Sister and her retainers?"

"Oh, they're in Notre Sagesse, an island inbetween Hoshido and Nohr. It is a neutral area that houses the Sevenfold Sanctuary, a place said to grant people much strength. I guessing that's why she went, but you'll have to ask her when we get to Nohr. We will be close to it on the ship, but Hinoka has insisted that she fly there and meet us at the port."

"Any idea why she went there?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I know that she was sent by Yukimura."

"Thanks Hinata. But I wonder why she won't join us until then?"

His question was met with a cheer from Saizo, Orochi, and Kagero; evidently they had won at what seemed like an everlasting game. Following his parents' actions, a purple-haired Asugi who was perched on Orochi's lap grinned, baring his developing milk teeth.

"So, it looks like this evening's entertainment has come to an end." The high prince of Hoshido had assumed a standing role for the second time. "It's early, but rest up. We have an early start tomorrow; look on the notice board for the accurate times. We have to say goodbye to our home, the omelettes and stir-fries, but we will be back in due time."

Appreciating the laughter at the high prince's last statement, a grin gingerly crept across Ryoma's generally serious face. "I do know we have Caeldori, Dwyer and Asugi – with another which will be named Midori - travelling with us. They are to be kept safe if we get into battles, and will need to retreat to a safe area. Anyways, I declare this day over. Sleep well."

There was a low mumble between the Hoshidans as they propped themselves up from the futons. Oboro separated from Hinata and Corrin with a wave, taking the left side staircase to her room. The two took the right staircase, and Corrin decided to raise his question again to Hinata.

"So, do you have any idea why Hinoka isn't meeting us at sea?"

Hinata turned his head, remembering the question. "Oh, yes, I was gonna say that we aren't specifically passing through Notre Sagesse, but otherwise, I have no clue. As Oboro said, you should ask Hinoka when we meet her."

"True."

They ascended the stairs, in the midst of a pack who were also taking the right staircase, before they came to Hinata's room.

"Seeya, Lord Corrin!" Hinata exclaimed, before pulling out a key from his pocket.

Corrin nodded in acknowledgement, walking along the balcony to his quarters. It was a traditional Hoshidan room, with a circular rug as the centrepiece of it. There was a single bed on the right wall, and a bookshelf where Corrin had kept his belongings. The place was illuminated in a cosy manner with modern oil lamps placed in each corner of the room. The general fairytail-esque setting of Hoshido - the ever blossoming trees, the clear ore-filled springs - was something that Corrin was certain everyone would miss. " _To think I didn't remember this beautiful place when I was in Nohr_ ," he thought, gazing emotionally at a weathered drawing was lay on top of his things he had packed. When he had returned to Hoshido, Mother Mikoto had told him that they had left his room in the exact same way for all those twenty years. The first thing that had came to his view was a picture. Mother had told him that before he was kidnapped, he had drawn one drawing - of him, Mother Mikoto and King Sumeragi, his father. It wasn't so much a drawing as a vaguely representative scribble, but it held a deep sentimental value to Corrin, so he had kept it with him since.

He scurried over to the window, gazing out into the sea, and beyond the warm, sunset horizon. As great as Hoshido was, and how much he considered it his new home, he longed to see the Nohr he had been sheltered from in his twenty or so years living there. Whether it were eating, or training, or sleeping, or exploring, it was always in the grounds of the castle he had grown up in, and he felt ready to explore the world he so wanted to see when he was younger. Content with his thoughts, Corrin was overcome with drowsiness. He got into bed. Ready for the days ahead, he allowed darkness to envelope his eyes, thinking of Hoshido, and of Nohr.

* * *

It was another clear night, save for the moon, bestowing its light upon the warren of streets in Notre Sagesse. Hinoka had sent her retainers to rest before her, like usual, and was looking up at the mountain that housed the Sevenfold Sanctuary. It was only a day before they would be able to take off to Nohr, to meet up with the others close to Cyrkensia. Hinoka had spent a few days planning with her retainers the best route there, deciding on one which would allow them to rest at inns every night after many hours of riding on Zena. Azama had worked out that the travels would take them just as much time as it would for the others to cross the sea on the boat, so they only had a few days left before they would leave this island that they had been residing on for so long.

Still, Hinoka was sceptical about only meeting the Hoshidans in Nohr, not least to get back to her family and siblings. Nohr was completely foreign to almost everyone, so picking a specific location to meet would be problematic. Although she found her retainers decent enough overall, they were sometimes quite challenging to lead, and pulling them through an unfamiliar city looking for a man in bright red armour would be a strain on her abilities as a liege. She would have agreed to meet them at the port, if she actually knew where the ship would land. The plan drawn out over a few days suddenly seemed very flawed, and Hinoka, realising this fact, vigorously stroked Zena's fur in frustration. Looking at the extended saddle she had crafted, she rouletted through ideas to try and decide for a better plan. However, nothing came to mind.

The orb of light sat in solitude, casting Hinoka's shadow against her pegasus. Disappointed at her realisation to the flaws, Hinoka solemnly walked to the stable with Zena in tow. She arranged a space for her pegasus to rest, flicking away hay with her gloved hands, and grooming Zena lovingly. Taking one last glance to the sea, Hinoka thought about reunion, and remaining optimistic for what the future held. She opened the inn door,leaving the moon to watch over the land. The orb peaked, its shroud signifying the end of the day, and a start of a new era, for Corrin, for Hinoka, for Hoshido.

* * *

 **Review Responses / Questions Answered**

 **To the Guest that reviewed the last chapter: Thank you for your positive feedback! I actually have flashbacks planned for many characters as it is an integral part of the story. Expect the 'choice' segment relatively soon!**

 **To The Zubatman: Thank you! When reading other fanfics I've found some of your reviews, and it seems like you enjoy the Corrin x Setsuna pairing. Hopefully this fic will live up to your expectations!**

* * *

 **A/N: This took a while to write. I decided to have a chapter delaying the inclusion of Setsuna (I'm sorry, she will appear in chapter 3), I just feel that the amount of bonding between Oboro, Hinata and Corrin is necessary, given that I find it hard to develop them alongside Setsuna. As well as this, the 'relationship talks' they have need to be mentioned pre-Setsuna, as it makes it a whole lot easier to develop their suspicuousness of Corrin over time rather than them being suddenly fully aware.**

 **Other than that, I feel like I needed to stress/ distinguish Oboro's crush on Takumi, and friendship with Corrin, because I felt like the conversation at the start of the chapter was a bit too characteristic of an S support. That's why the second conversation is based on Takumi.**

 **I named Hinoka's pegasus Zena because 1. Pegasus is a character in Greek mythology and Zena is a Greek name and 2. Zena means 'pretty' or 'ornament' in Greek, referring to the love and appreciation Hinoka shows for her pet.**

 **Any comments on characters that feel OOC? Want to comment on the chapter length? Feel free to mention stuff down below so I can improve my story as I go along.**

 **I hope you are enjoying this so far, the next chapter (at least) will be done and edited by the time of this being published so I can stick to the schedule I made in the foreword. Well, for now, anyway.**

 **-Ben**


	3. Sea and Storm

_**Absent-minded**_

 ** _Chapter 3: Sea and Storm_**

 **Foreword: Finally finished this chapter.**

 **After reading through my first draft of the chapter, I hated it. So much so that I completely scrapped the chapter and started again.**

 **The thing is, the first half is okay. It's just that the battle element is just something to hate to write.**

 **As a sense of scale, I wrote 2000 words since the beginning of October. While I have been busy with school work, and playing video games for lots of time, this chapter could have still been out ages ago. I just really hated to write the last part.**

 **This chapter is bad, and I know that. But it's finished. And there won't be any battles for a while. I want to start building relationships and interactions between of course the main pair of characters, Corrin and Setsuna, but also people like Hinoka, and Takumi's retainers.**

 **Anyway, enough of my complaining. I'm sorry that it's been such a long wait for such a mediocre chapter. If I don't update this in two weeks, then 1) Hope all you readers have a Merry Christmas and 2) While progress is slow, I still want to do this story, and I always try to spend at least a few minutes each day progressing in the chapters.**

 **As always, grammar and corrections appreciated, as well as constructive criticism / feedback.**

* * *

"C'mon girl, it's time to go."

Hinoka stroked the silky hay from Zena's back, grooming her with a chuckle. The pegasus softly flapped its snow-white wings in appreciation, a sign of years of inseparableness between the two. Dusting and smoothing her outfit from the hay that had wafted onto her, Hinoka gestured for Zena to stand. The pegasus obeyed, emerging from her straw bed and strolling over to the princess.

"That's my girl. It's gonna be a long day of flying today, and we're taking my retainers with us."

Hinoka gestured to her retainers who stood awkwardly at the stable entrance, teal and maroon hair dancing in the morning breeze. They tried waving reassuringly at Zena, but were definitely not the greatest at taking care of animals – the teal-haired female always got distracted by irrelevant things, and the maroon-haired man was too cynical to contain any sort of sympathy and care. As such, Hinoka often found that she would be the one grooming Zena – if she left her retainers to do it, she'd find the man standing there next to an annoyed pegasus, telling her the girl had got distracted by a butterfly and run into the woods.

In truth, Hinoka was more of a retainer than a liege. Although she appreciated her retainers' company, their execution of simple, retainer-like jobs was normally so bad she often found doing them herself was both more time-saving, and had a better end result. This was specifically referring to the teal-haired girl. Normally, a retainer was supposed to wake their liege up, set their clothes out, warm up their bath water, make sure their weapons and armour were polished, (in her case) make sure their pegasus was groomed, walk in front of them to protect them from traps, reserve a table in the mess hall for them, and other things. Normally, she would do most of these things for the girl, but, for some reason she actually enjoyed it as a different experience to what most of her siblings were used to. The girl slept a lot, so Hinoka woke her up, set her clothes out and warmed her bathwater for her. She was also very forgetful, so Hinoka had to look out for her yumi at all times, since she could undo it from her strap and easily forget she ever wielded it in the first place. Hinoka folded and washed her kimonos when she needed fresh ones, and would make sure she was safely sat down at mealtimes. Because of the girl's tendency to get herself caught in traps, Hinoka also found herself looking out for traps for her sake.

In this regard, it was almost as if the teal-haired girl was the liege in their relationship. However, Hinoka found her perseverance inspiring; through the absentmindedness, and obliviousness to sarcasm, she always wanted to improve, and appreciated her liege taking good care of her. The girl also acknowledged that she was sometimes a burden, so she had to become useful to her in other ways, like on the battlefield. It was this want of improvement that made Hinoka love her as a retainer, and they were great friends, even for all her negatives.

The two retainers shuffled out of the way as Hinoka led Zena out of the spacious stable, into the tepid raindrops that softly flew with the wind. The princess watched as her retainers stumbled out, standing awkwardly with their legs shut tight. Looking at the girl's outfit, Hinoka sighed. It was clear she had left a very important indicator of her appearance inside the stable. Without speaking, Hinoka poked her head around the stable door, not even surprised at the small yumi that had been placed on top of a haystack and evidently forgot about. The princess kept a straight face, walking over to the girl, and strapping her yumi onto her fur waistguard.

"You almost forgot your yumi." Hinoka said bluntly. It was a normal thing for the girl to forget things, to the point where Hinoka didn't even find it very amusing anymore.

The girl looked down at her retrieved yumi. "Now you say it, it does look a bit like my bow… I'll take it just in case it is."

The man, who was called Azama, raised a sarcastic clap.

"Thank you for clapping, Azama…" The girl blushed, oblivious to the fact that Azama was trying to mock her.

Azama sighed, his mess of maroon hair overlapping his monastic headband. He was a cynical person by nature; always openly mocking people and making them despise him. Unfortunately for him, the girl was far too pure for any of his intended mocking to affect her – she just took it as a compliment. Nonetheless, he always followed up with something to the extent of " _That was not a compliment._ "

"Anyway, we should get going." Hinoka gestured to the vast sky, and Zena neighed softly in response. The girl looked as if she'd never seen the sky before, wide-eyed, and daydreamy.

"Zena, crouch." Hinoka's sharp tone made the pegasus buckle under her voice. Quietly petting her, Hinoka clambered onto the front of the saddle, and untangled the reins. Then Azama hauled his leg over the pegasus and shifted himself on, a completely unfazed and uninterested look donning his face. The girl struggled to haul her weight (despite being relatively small and light) onto the pegasus, but after some help was sitting comfortably in between the other two.

Hinoka gripped the reins, and Zena stood up proudly, ready to fly. The girl was surprisingly unfazed by riding Hinoka's pet, and found more interest in staring at the sky which, due to her reaction, anyone could have thought it was her first time experiencing the outdoors. The girl absentmindedly held Hinoka's waist, presumably – in her mind - not for her safety, but her liege's. This was the thing that made Hinoka love her, as she looked back and saw her short teal hair resonating with the wind.

"Go girl, go!" Hinoka pulled the reins and Zena got ready. The pegasus began to trot, evolving swiftly into a run.

"Uh, Lady Hinoka? My shoe fell off…"

Hinoka grinded Zena to a halt. " _Well, that was anticlimactic_ ," she thought to herself, before responding. "Where did it come off?" She looked, and sure enough, she was met with blue leggings where the girl's shoe should have been.

The girl blushed. "When I was getting on."

"How didn't you notice? Surely you would have felt it straight away?"

"I guess I forgot about it…" The girl gritted her teeth, expecting her liege to get annoyed at her. On the contrary, Hinoka smiled and dismounted Zena, before helping the girl off – by carrying her.

"Stay here, Azama." The man nodded, rolling his eyes, but remained sitting on Zena.

Sure enough, they found the boot a few metres away from the inn. It was black, with a flared opening and small heel. Chuckling, Hinoka helped the girl get her foot in the boot, and then tightened both boots for good measure. The princess playfully rubbed her retainer's hair, as they briskly walked back along the pier which, thankfully for Hinoka, was free of traps. Otherwise, the process may have taken about another half hour.

Mounting Zena once again, Hinoka readied herself by grabbing the reins, then aligning the pegasus with the end of the pier. Pulling the reins for the second time, Hinoka charged, and the process of speeding up repeated itself. As the three bumped up and down, they watched Zena's snow-white wings begin to flap. These wings start to flap faster along with the increasing velocity. As they began to reach the end of the pier, the pegasus's head arched upward, aiming for its destination. The bumping increased, and Zena ran faster than ever, before she took to the air in a spectacular manner. The girl's eyes widened, and she gripped Hinoka's waist tighter to 'protect' her liege. All the while, she was still fascinated by the wet morning sky, as they reached for the clouds.

"Azama, stop looking so grumpy. Then again, you normally look something like that." The princess chuckled, looking down and deeply appreciating the fact that her retainers did not seem to be bothered by heights.

"Woooooow…" The girl's voice was slightly dreamy as her eyes darted animatedly all over the place. She took her hand off of Hinoka's waist to readjust her headband, which was lost in her normally neat hair. Her kimono danced with the wind, and her quiver made satisfying jingles in the pouch extending from the saddle. Though the breeze was loud, she began to feel herself succumbing to the pleasure of daydreaming, and her ears began to invert from the outside world to her thoughts inside.

Glancing back at the girl, Hinoka saw her staring aimlessly to the west, beyond the point of view. Grinning to herself, the princess got back to her piloting. "Oh, Setsuna. You never fail to amuse me."

* * *

Corrin aroused from slumber, listening to the muted conversation which was being generated in every direction. Taking heed of this, he propped himself up on his elbows, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the light of the morning. A week of the port town had passed, and in that time Corrin had almost taken a different identity, having a chance to flow free from his normal duties. He got up, folding his uniform over one arm and entering his washroom. Running the lukewarm water, he imagined the water running simultaneously in all of the rooms, as the Hoshidans got ready to leave. The emanating steam calmed his senses, and as he clambered into the tub, he reflected on the journey so far, and the journey to come.

* * *

Oboro aroused from slumber, listening to the muted conversation which was being generated in every direction. The night's sleep had done her well, and her body felt refreshed by the cool breeze which softly blew through the window. She sat up, reaching with her right hand for her uniform. Clutching them by the hanger, she entered the washroom, and ran the water. She listened for a moment to the monotonous noise of the tap, before taking off her nightclothes and folding them neatly. She hung up her uniform in the washroom and sat in the tub, allowing the fluid to envelope her body. Water was a potent way of awakening her, and as she lay back, Oboro braced for the emotional hardships of the journey ahead.

* * *

Hinata aroused from slumber, listening to the muted conversation which was being generated in every direction. It was early, and Hinata did not approve of the decision to leave at dawn. He thoroughly stretched his arms, letting out a moan in satisfaction, then emerged from his bed, picking up his armour without so much as a glance at it. He listened intently to the calm sound of droplets which came from the adjacent rooms, before entering the washroom for his morning procedures. The water that he ran was fresh and warm, its qualities transferring to the steam Hinata felt brush against his face. He climbed into the tub, leaning back and treasuring the final moments in Hoshido.

* * *

Corrin finished dressing, attaching thin metal plates to his leggings, which tightly surrounded his legs. The prince hooked his blade off of the wall, gently strapping it to his waist. Footsteps began to draw close, with a familiar sound of Ryoma cutting through the walls.

"Leaving in fifteen minutes! Make sure you have your belongings and especially your weapons – most of you know what happened once." Ryoma sighed, thinking back to the time when Setsuna left her yumi in the Hoshidan capital when leaving for a trip to Izumo. To make a long story short, they missed what they were going there for.

Smoothing out the creases in his collar, Corrin hauled his pack onto his back, his walk quickly devolving into a mediocre trudge. As he exited his room, he gave a nod of acknowledgement to Ryoma. "Hello, Brother. Where do I need to go?"

The high prince returned a nod. "On the far end of the promenade, you can't miss it. About half of us are already there."

"Thank you." Ryoma watched intently as Corrin pulled himself down the stairs. It made him wonder what he would even find in his pack. " _Might check it later_." he thought.

* * *

Oboro finished dressing, tying her breastplate to the back of the kimono in an elegant knot. She had no sheath or holster on her outfit for her naginata, so she carried it with her, the blade wrapped in an orange satin. Maybe with the days at sea she would find herself crafting one. The seamstress did not doubt the idea.

She heard emphasised footsteps patrolling the overlook, with Ryoma's voice booming through the doors and walls.

"Leaving in fifteen minutes! Make sure you have your belongings and especially your weapons – most of you know what happened once." Oboro heard Ryoma's careful sigh and chuckled to herself about Setsuna's absentmindedness.

The seamstress then heard a vague conversation coming from the other side of the balcony. She gathered her things and opened the door to see Corrin slowly walking down the stairs. With a quick smile at the high prince, Oboro adapted to a brisk walk, attempting to catch up with her friend.

* * *

Hinata finished dressing, adjusting his hair tie and skimming his fingers through his ponytail. His sheath was in the standard position for samurais – the left hip – and he placed his polished katana in it. He had heard Ryoma about five minutes ago, saying about leaving in fifteen minutes. That left Hinata in a panic, so he had to walk all the way to the end of the pier.

Lugging his pack behind him, Hinata quickly opened the door, expecting the high prince to have forgotten that he existed. He fixed his eyes to the floor, attempting a hurried walk along the corridor. Unfortunately he did not notice Ryoma, who stood by the entrance sourly, arms folded.

"Hinata."

The samurai froze. He looked at the high prince with a look which carved a medium between innocence and fear. Hinata was reminded of his childhood, when he was frequently berated by his tutor for his casual demeanour.

"Uh… yes Milord?" Hinata managed to blurt out his words.

"You're a bit late. Everyone else has boarded, so we need to be quick. Let me take something, maybe your pack, then we can get to the ship faster."

"B-But… aren't you gonna punish me?" Hinata's brain refused to process at Ryoma's calmness. The prince could get very hot-headed when needed, and the samurai thought this was one of those times.

He chuckled. "No, Hinata. It's not like Setsuna's yumi incident. Don't expect me to get mad at you for being ready a bit later. I know you hate early mornings."

Hinata stifled a smile as the last two Hoshidans walked out of the inn.

* * *

"Hinoka."

The ragtag trio had been flying for a few hours, mostly in silence. Setsuna had been captivated by a daydream for the entirety of the journey, whilst still managing to cling onto Hinoka's waist. Azama, meanwhile, found the whole point of speaking 'not worth the time', which spurred the silence.

The princess glanced behind her, looking at Azama questionably. She turned back. "I thought talking with the likes of us was boring, or however you put it."

"Yes, it is. But I noticed we are flying against the wind; we are flying in a south easterly direction. Why? Also, this is of minor importance compared to my first remark, but Setsuna is almost falling off Zena."

Hinoka's eyes widened. "What? Help her!"

"Oh, Hinoka. Your young mind, always wary. You see, she hasn't even noticed the fact that she is in danger yet. I think she needs to be able to acknowledge me before I assist her. Don't you agree? It is imperative that she expresses gratitude at my heroic-"

"AZAMA, WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING HER!"

"Calm down. You see. If she dies physically, it will be fine. Her spirit will live on in our memories as the absent-minded archer who fell-"

"Azama, is this some sort of joke? I guess I'll have to help her." Hinoka kept one hand clutching the reins as she put her hand on Setsuna's shoulder.

"Um… Lady Hinoka?" Setsuna smiled innocently. "What are you doing?"

"Setsuna? How long have you been awake?"

"Since the morning…?" Setsuna, oblivious to Hinoka's frustration, dusted her apron.

"No…" Hinoka sighed. "Let me get this straight. Did you or did you not hear the conversation between me and Azama just now?"

"A bit of it. It was about me in danger. Was I going to die…?"

"So you weren't daydreaming?"

"…No…" The archer looked concerned at Hinoka's frustrated expression. "Lady Hinoka, did I do something wrong?"

"No, Setsuna… let's just say your absentmindedness is genuinely impressive."

"Thank you… it's always lovely getting a compliment from you, Milady."

Hinoka expected it, but still facepalmed at the archer's answer. "Setsuna?"

"Yes, Milady?"

"Why don't you go and do some daydreaming to pass the time?"

Setsuna's eyes lit up, and she attempted a sitting-down curtsey. "It would be my honour, Milady."

Hinoka suppressed a laugh as Setsuna instantly lost contact with the world outside of her. It was impressive how easily the archer could daydream, and for once, that was actually meant as a compliment.

"My, my. Hinoka the hero. Rescuing a girl who didn't even know she was in danger, then inviting her to daydream, presumably to stop all the trouble you've been having. I know I am correct, don't attempt to downplay me."

"Azama, I don't know whether I love you or hate you. Honestly, I'm leaning towards the latter."

The monk looked amused. "Whether you love me or not, it was your choice to employ me, if I remember correctly. Are you coming back on your decision all these years after?

"Shut up, Azama. I recruited you before you showed me your true colours." The princess got back to her piloting.

"Anyhow, before you start ignoring me, why are we travelling in a southeasterly direction?"

"I don't know. I'm not comfortable with meeting the others in a land I am unfamiliar with. There a problem with that?"

"So your mind isn't strong enough to bare the complexities of unfamiliarity?" Azama taunted.

"I guess not." The princess decided that provoking Azama was a bad idea, so didn't. "Everyone is weak-minded when compared to you."

"It is a skill you will have to learn. You may have succeeded in most of your goals in life, but goals are what prevents the human mind in thinking practically."

Hinoka didn't bother responding. She merely took those words to her mind.

* * *

Below deck, the ship was surprisingly homely. The hull end of the boat had two huge staircases – clinging to the left and right walls before curving together - leading up to the deck, and they were the most eye-catching thing by far. However, in between the staircases was a giant living area laid out with futons and rugs, much like the area at the inn. Corrin's comrades rejoiced at this; some of them had paid to take the packs of cards from the innkeeper in the hope of still being able to play a few games.

Off to the left was the cooking and food preparation area. There was a wooden counter and drawers underneath, brimming with food from both nations. A small room led off to the right, housing a fire hearth for any cooking. The smoke was channelled through a pipe which was embedded in a wall, ending near to the stern.

Closer to the middle of the boat was an armoury. There were countless wooden rails made to accommodate weapons and armour, and the wall quickly got lost behind a metaphorical sea of metal. A counter accompanying the section promoted the idea of someone manning the armoury at all times.

The stern end of the boat housed all the quarters – There were three rooms divided in each big room. They were separated by thick, woven curtains, with an ability to be easily opened and drawn. As such, the Hoshidans instinctively gathered into groups: couples and their children, royal siblings, retainers, and friends. When Hinata found everyone downstairs, he was inconspicuously grabbed by Oboro and Corrin.

"H-Hey! What?" Hinata looked surprisingly hurt, considering his standard happy-go-lucky nature.

The seamstress and prince chuckled, exchanging an unreadable glance at each other. "Just roll with it. Your fault for being late. Even Lord Takumi got here before you." Oboro smirked. "Wasn't it your turn to escort Lord Takumi today?"

Hinata looked slowly downwards, clutching his fringe. "Damn. It was. But you all know how much early mornings resonate with me."

"Lots?" This came from Corrin, his grin easily escaping the confines of his lips.

Hinata shot him an amused glare, as they followed Oboro into a rectangular area. Sliding doors made up almost the entirety of the wall, noticeably grouped in bunches of three.

The cobalt-haired girl slid open one, beckoning the two men inside. "Hinata, these are our quarters. You see, the big rooms have been split into three to make… well, three of these." She gestured to the third that the trio stood in.

"It's good an' all, but…" The samurai squinted, as if looking for a small detail that would somehow complete his satisfaction. "Where's the washroom?"

"Well, I have to say, we learnt a lot in the five minutes you weren't with us." Oboro curled her head round her shoulder, jerking her thumb to the left. "We share one on the far left side. I've already set up my things in the room closest, so don't get ideas." She smirked as she took in the sourness of Hinata's expression. "Especially you."

"I'll learn to deal with it."

* * *

Corrin found himself in his room after supper. Though he did not have any way of seeing outside, he was aware of the sun waning and giving way to the night. It was looking to be a quiet couple of weeks; a chance to compose an understanding of the conditions in Nohr, the difference between hostile and peaceful areas, geographical studies of the landscape, and anything which would prove useful in the upcoming weeks. In fact, he was referring to a map now, painted by a Chevois traveller a few years ago. The prince had received the map from Felicia earlier that day, and he had been studying it since supper. He committed names to memory - Macarath, Mount Garou, Dragonfall. The features of the western continent he had been oblivious to when growing up: the mountainous east, the aptly named 'Fingers of Nestra' where their ship would land, the River Anya splitting northern Nohr from the south and other kingdoms, the Woods of the Forlorn. All this culture fascinated him; he was now informed of why Geographical Studies was something he never learnt. The vast amount of Nohr he never knew was kept private, but only so his motives for exiting the castle grounds were small and inexcusable.

His ears perked at the sound of the door sliding open. Looking up, he saw Oboro loitering in the entrance, one hand on her hip, the other hanging freely.

"Why do you have a new addiction towards this map?"

"It's interesting, I guess? Besides, it's not like you have the job of assisting the command of the army. It's important for me to know strategic posi-"

Oboro chuckled. "Yes, I know. Strategy, yada-yada-yada, and everything else. But you should probably come out. It's no use co-commanding an army if you never interact with them."

"That was... surprisingly insightful of you, Oboro."

"Huh? Lord- I mean, Corrin, are you implying that I'm not insightful?" The seamstress' face turned sour, but still retained its amused demeanour.

"Yes."

"That was the most blunt thing I've heard you say in ages."

"You drooling over Takumi every day isn't what I'd class as insightful."

The retainer blushed - but then again, it only took the mention of Corrin's brother to make her cheeks heat up. "Very funny, Corrin."

"Hey! What are you two lovebirds sticking around together for?" Hinata appeared with his trademark beam, to which the two others rolled their eyes.

"Hinata, why can't we have a conversation without you squeezing your way into it?" Her attention turned to her fellow retainer. "Also, lovebirds? Since when did Lord Corrin have any romantic advancement in his life, and since when did Lord Takumi do something to stop my feelings for him?"

"Forget that I ever said lovebirds. But what are you two doing here?"

"Oboro wanted me to come outside and ignore my new 'map addiction'. Corrin got up from his bed and approached the retainers. He reached for his cloak which was hung up on a burgundy post. "So that's what I'm doing right now."

All of a sudden, an orchestral clap of thunder rang throughout the ship. The trio were shaken by the sudden noise, and looked amongst themselves as if there was some explanation for the thunder which one of them could explain.

"This is strange. I thought the winds were headed towards Nohr, and as far as I know the Hoshidan weather has been consistently decent. Oh well, looks like everyone will be coming inside."

Hinata groaned. "I was hoping to spar with someone before the curfew. It looks like I'll have to wait 'till tomorrow."

"A swordsman's first duty is to his sword, eh?" Oboro pulled the folds of her kimono absentmindedly. "I never seen someone genuinely upset about not being able to spar."

"Pardon me saying, Miss Fashion, but seeing as I'm not a prodigy at sewing, I have interests that revolve around combat and not designing." The swordsman was keen to challenge his fellow retainer's view. "I'm sure a lot of people in our company don't see sparring as a chore."

Oboro opened her mouth to respond, but was drowned out by a posh accent calling "Milord!" She stepped to the side as Jakob rushed into the room, his ponytail almost a separate entity as it struggled to catch up to its owner.

"What is it Jakob?" The prince was suddenly alert, eyes straining in inquisitiveness, eyebrows raised.

"Lady Sakura has spotted enemy creatures approaching our location. They seem to be appearing from a maelstrom which came to be when the storm arrived. Everyone needs to gear up, and fast!" And then the butler turned to Hinata and Oboro. "Prepare Lord Takumi's gear for him. He's stayed on the deck with Lady Sakura and Lord Ryoma."

Retainerly instincts (which the prince envied) kicked in. The pair rushed out the door, taking a left for their liege's door, completely dismissing their conversation just a few seconds before.

"And there they go." The prince never failed to be impressed at how quickly vassals reacted to their call of duty.

"Milord, Felicia is coming. I shall prepare your weapon for you in the meantime."

"Thank you, Jakob. Having a retainer like you is something I always appreciate."

"It is my pleasure, to be serving with a master as excellent as you," Jakob said, as he carefully handled the prince's Yato.

"Lord Corrin! Do you need help with your armour?" A female voice, clumsy in nature approached. Without waiting for an answer, the maid in question forced her way into attaching Corrin's metal shinpads.

He grinned at his retainer's eagerness. "Thank you, Felicia. I don't know where I would be without you two catering to my every manoeuvre."

The maid blushed. "No, I don''t think I'm helpful enough to warrant a compliment."

"Felicia, funny how you say that when you rush to my room and instantly tend to my armour. You do better than I could do. Anyway, I can't idly chat with you two right now. There is a force building outside and I don't want to be late to it." He began applying his own armour, to which the maid looked hurt.

"I am going as fast as I can, Milord!"

"I know, Felicia. It's just that two is better than one when it comes to efficiency, right?"

" _The life of being a retainer,_ " he thought. " _Certainly a hectic one, but one I would be surprisingly eager to try out myself._ "

* * *

Armour applied, and Yato sheathed, Corrin followed his retainers up to the deck. The storm was worse than he expected. Sheets of thick, black cloud blanketed the entire sky, with the occasional flash of lightning. The rain had become heavy, so much so that it almost completely demoted the thunder which inconsistently rung out, albeit faintly. The tactics of this battle had not been pre-empted, so the Hoshidans were forced to use their common sense as a tool for combat movements. They formed a circle in expectation of a duel-like battle; each comrade would have one monster to battle, meaning they wouldn't get overtaken by numbers. At least, that was what they hoped would happen.

The creatures were semi-invisible, coated in a sickly resin which made Corrin's stomach turn. The first day at sea, and there were already some marine creatures craving the Hoshidan's demise. This had to be a bad omen. Never would anything as relentless as this be anything but a bad omen. They kept coming; pegasus knights, and others riding a wyvern, circling the deck and wielding potentially lethal naginatas and axes. Forced together by the malicious aura emanating from the creatures, the Hoshidans stood back to back, weapon hilts meeting, ready for battle.

It took no tactician to know that the enemy had the upper hand. Only Takumi was effective at picking the troops off, and even mastery of the yumi would not be able to stop the number of pegasii and wyverns which would be charging them. The others would be able to hold their own, but were extremely susceptible to getting overpowered by multiple opponents. In many ways it was an unwinnable situation; the prince only wished he had learnt the ways of the yumi while in Hoshido.

The fliers kept coming, materialising from seemingly out of no where. Before long the whole boat would be surrounded, and reinforcements would no doubt appear in large numbers. Making an attack earlier would have potentially turned the battle in their favour, but the opportunity was snatched away and there was no going back to it. As long as they were back to back,the disadvantage grew vastly, but therein lay the problem.

Attack was impossible to commence.

The force preventing them from moving felt subtle, but effective; manipulative even. Yes, that was it, there had to be some thing behind all of it. The creatures made simple yet calculated movements towards the Hoshidans which were beyond that of any other species. The wyverns roared in unison, sinisterly, deliberately. Corrin alerted and angled his Yato horizontally, nervous. Would he set foot on Nohr? See his sister? Try to nullify the whole conflict between the two kingdoms? Or would he die out at sea, slain by marine creatures?

No. He would fulfill his wishes. He chose this path to be able to fix everything, not die as a traitor to Nohrians. What were some mounted creatures going to do to him? Nothing, that's what.

Bursting with new-found confidence, the prince yelled, using all his strength to escape the magnetic field. He felt the tug on his skin tight leggings, every step bringing inexplicable pain. He fought it though, unaware that his comrades had also taken to fighting it. Yells of both genders began to overpower the vortex they were trapped in, and the riders started to wield their weapons furiously, clearly aggravated by the resistance.

The vortex snapped. There was no noise, no sight, just a sudden change of gravity and the many stumbles that followed. Corrin took a moment to gather his opponent, and then nodded in acknowledgement to Ryoma and Felicia. The Hoshidans didn't need to be told; with an ear-deafening wyvern war cry drowning out every other noise, they cried back, counter-charging against the incoming riders.

* * *

"Well, things are looking bad, Milady..."

"Well spotted, Setsuna." The princess rolled her eyes but chuckled at her retainers comment. The storm had been brewing for plenty of time, yet the archer had only just managed to gain access to her surroundings.

"Thank you, Milady. I am quite good at spotting things, like animals, but it's still an honour getting so more compliments from you.

"If only you were better at spotting traps..."

Setsuna gritted her teeth, realising her mistake. "Um... well, Lady Hinoka, I meant... apart from traps."

"Oh ho, Setsuna. Ever naïve may you be. You are aware that of all the things your senses can't pick up on, it had to be the most physically and mentally painful thing for both you and Hinoka?"

"Um, yes Azama." She had a genuine frown on her face, an event that had not occurred for at least a few days.

The red-head had little patience after her various arguments she had had with Azama, so was determined to release the situation as quickly as was possible. "Azama, I will not say this again. I won't hesitate to throw you off if needs be."

"Are you forgetting that the reason you still currently reside in this world is because of me? I would lay low if I were you, Hinoka." The man wore a smug grin which drove Hinoka off the edge.

"Azama! You should call Lady Hinoka by her real title, not Hinoka..."

The princess loved how the archer stuck up for her, even when it wasn't in a good way. Setsuna wanted to discipline Azama out of respect for her liege, which Hinoka respected deeply. Even now, she felt her hips being gripped tightly to 'protect' her from the monk's rudeness.

"Setsuna, may I remind you that I met Hinoka first, therefore monastic rules state that I am deemed a higher position than you. I know every retainer wants to protect their precious liege, but in theory you have no right to downspeak me."

"Oh... I didn't know that." The archer gritted her teeth again, unsure of how she should be reacting to Azama's comment.

Hinoka, on the other hand, was strongly disliking the monk's company. His attitude and 'tongue-in-cheek' comments were driving her over the edge, not least because he had effectively downgraded both her and Setsuna's authority, promoting himself to the liege of the relationship. Had the archer not been nestled in between them, Azama would have been a lifeless vessel on the sea bed a while ago.

She growled. "Azama, you are both my retainers, and are the same position as each other. Monastic rules are different to those of Hoshidan society. Don't attempt to make Setsuna feel bad about herself; you know she was just trying to fulfill her job description, and be the useful retainer she wants to be. Wouldn't you find it annoying if you were trying to be helpful but were insulted by a heartless monk of a fellow retainer?"

"Ah, Hinoka, every oblivious to the banter that embraces my true image. You see, Setsuna has to learn that to be a true vassal of yours, it is imperative that she learns the best way to cooperate with me, and that also includes understanding the way that I speak and how she has to take my speech lightly."

"But Azama, you were disrespecting Milady... So I had to be a good retainer and stand up for her." The archer's tone was bordering on frustrated, despite the complete lack of anger the archer possessed.

"Setsuna..." The monk was unsurprised at his failed attempt to break Setsuna's obliviousness. "Of everything that is holy, please say you will lose the purity that you possess in the future."

"I'm not sure how to do that, but... I'll try, I guess."

As if to signify the end of the conversation, Zena whimpered, uncomfortable with the dangerous conditions. The retainers took little notice to the small sound that the pegasus made. But Hinoka gently leant down, whispering to her pet.

"Not that much longer, Zena. Not much more to go." And then the princess closed her eyes momentarily, softly speaking to herself.

"My husband, my daughter, my siblings, Corrin, Matoi. I will be back soon, I promise."

* * *

The wyvern screeched in pain, reeling back from Corrin's relentless attacks. Its pilot could do nothing; the prince had taken an opening and stuck with it, slashing and slashing against the creature's scaly body. Initially the duel had been against Corrin; the wyvern's bulk had proved to be intimidating to him and he mainly focused on parrying the attacks the pilot threw at him. But even though its movements were that of extreme intelligence, a second of slipping up was enough for the prince to give himself the upper hand.

Each strike increasing in strength, Corrin constantly altered his movement to prevent the pilot from parrying anything. He advanced forward at a steady pace, almost suspicious at the lack of resistance the creature made to his attack. His slashing pattern became ingrained into his mind, and he heard Felicia and Ryoma nearby, fighting off the horde of mounts.

And that was when Corrin noticed.

Up at the top of the mast, a dismounted wyvern rider was standing next to its pet. But it was snaking its hands tenderly over a book.

A tome.

The prince's senses alerted as the realisation came straight to the forefront of his mind. Was that book the whole reason, the force, the maelstrom, the storm even? It made sense. The whole existence of these creatures were hardly likely to be natural. The supernatural cause was probably there, in front of his very eyes, a secret to all of his comrades. Instinctively, he thought about the simplest way to solve it. For a battle with creatures as intelligent as these, it seemed almost like a joke how easy it would be to just stop the onslaught of creatures.

The problem was, to put his plan into action, using a messenger was almost necessary. Normally this would have been incredibly simple. However, due to the swift start to the battle, and the close quarters of the battlefield, a messenger was not assigned. In Corrin's mind, the creatures would stop coming when their ringleader was defeated. So, alerting both Subaki and Takumi would have easily signified the end of the battle. But this was not the case, since both were out of sight, and thus unreachable for Corrin. And as far as he knew, he was the only one who had spotted the wyvern mage, since everyone was focused on their own sparring partner.

His muscles started moving without confirmation from him. He didn't think of the consequences, he didn't think of the danger he put both himself and his comrades in, he didn't think of tactics. But he climbed. The wooden rungs felt unstable in the lightning that engulfed them, making various groans and creaks under his weight. He looked down and noticed Felicia shouting up at him, presumably trying to alert the others. But she was quickly sucked into another duel with another potential life-ending creature.

Corrin didn't have unlimited time. He had become aware of the fact that vengeance was a physical thing, lingering on the deck for new creatures to feed and get enraged on. Up at the height he was hanging from, it was scarily noticable how much his allies were backing up and slowly digging their own grave. The prince conjured up a mental image of an hourglass in his head, and shivered as the sand fell. But the sand would refuse to stop until the wyvern mage was killed. He had to keep going.

He began to approach the top of the mast. He was in the midst of a Nohrian play; something unrealistic was always guaranteed to happen, which in turn completely isolated the 'based on a true story' motto that was so often stressed in the theaters. When he thought of battles, the last thing that would come to his mind would be scaling a mast to defeat a wyvern rider proficient in the art of magic. That would be something which only happened in the huge Cyrkensian amphitheatre. Except it wasn't written in the script that he would prevail in his attempt; in this play, the scene had been yet to be written, and it could go either way.

Corrin's heart jumped as he reached the top of the ropeladder, only to see the wyvern mage smiling evilly, meeting his eyes. He felt like shouting, but now he knew there was no turning back from his idea. As he desperately pulled himself up to the crow's nest, the mage mounted his wyvern. What shook the prince even more was that the mage pulled out an axe which had been concealed from his view. He knew about these things from his training in Nohr. Malicious, powerful and designed to kill, they had a wide, curved edge which maximized its range of lethality. In the tight space Corrin was now stuck in, the axe was effectively a guillotine, covering an entire half of the crow's nest.

The mage had begun to swoop round, axe extended, aiming towards Corrin. His smile still glinted sinisterly, contrasting deeply with every other part of the environment. The prince could only duck as the weapon passed a few inches over his head. If he was to win, he had to wound the wyvern to prevent it from flying, but right now defending himself was the biggest priority until he worked out how he could counter this intimidating creature.

"Why did I think this was a good idea?" he muttered to himself as he ducked under the guillotine again. Although he at least knew that Felicia was aware of his presence, he couldn't bank on the fact help would come, especially in this situation. He had to take matters into his own hands, regardless of the danger.

His tactical mindbank opened up as the guillotine approached once more. Nodding to himself, he crouched like usual, but this time drew his Yato. As the axe flew over his head, the world seemed to stop around him, catching him in between time. The scales of the wyvern were there for him to view in all their glory, jet black fins blurring into a burgundy on the tip. And underneath, tender, vulnerable flesh, barely accessible. At least all those biology lectures he'd had about wyverns finally had a practical use.

Aiming in between the scales, Corrin thrusted his sword, deeply piercing the flesh. As time met him once again, the undeniable screech of a wyvern almost burst his eardrums. He must've badly wounded it, as confirmed by the formidable creature beginning to lose altitude. Now the prince could relax a little. With their ringleader gone, if his suspicions were correct, the maelstrom would disappear, and with it those creatures.

But if only things were that easy.

Realising his wyvern was effectively dead, the mage seamlessly dismounted it, and with almost inhumane actions, positioned himself a few metres away from Corrin in the Crow's Nest. It was here that the prince got a clear look at his opponent. His armour was similar to a standard wyvern rider: slim, iron plates covering all of the body. His neck was adorned with a cape, pinned on the front. However, it was his helmet which was different. Bloodthirsty expressions set upon a face of metal, two horns erupting from the top and turning back on themselves, before curling outwards. The relentless toothy grin of the helmet added more intimidation aside from the axe, and made Corrin shiver. Nervously, he readied his Yato, disconnecting himself from his height, and what was conspiring below him.

The knight swung the guillotine with immense strength; despite the notorious weight of the axe, he wielded it as if it was a knife, making quick, flashy movements. It was obvious there was an abundance of supernatural power flowing through him, and that just concerned Corrin even more. With a yell, he attempted to parry the incoming blow. The two weapons met, producing a sound audible even over the din of the storm. The force surprised the prince, but he recovered quick enough to be able to contest with his sword. Whilst he struggled, the knight merely seemed unbothered, using barely any strength to try and see his attack come through.

Evasion overpowered Corrin's sense of might, and he quickly backed up, dodging the attack. However, any ideas of a counter were short-lived when the knight immediately recovered, axe in the stance it was beforehand. With the slightest hiss, the knight lunged forward at his opponent, who rolled to the left. Strafing in alternate directions, Corrin continued to dodge the attacks, however relentlessly they came. Each time, the audibility of the knight's screech became more annoyed in tone. The prince began to commit his movements to muscle memory, questioning why he was intimidated by the knight in the first place. Although his power was unparalleled, each attack was given away by some telltale flick of the hand prior to the swing.

Eventually, Corrin began to dot out a jabbing action in his mind. He had been playing defensive which, while it worked, was no going to get him anywhere. His evasion commited to memory, he shifted forwards with his Yato, attempting a blow.

If Corrin was to know that that was the knight's intention from the start, it would have made his life a lot easier. He reacted unnaturally to the prince's attack, knocking him off balance. Using the blunt side of his axe, the knight hammered down on Corrin's shoulder blade, rendering the corresponding arm- his sword arm- useless. With a pained yell, the prince turned around to face his opponent, his hurt face directly contrasting the victorious, dormant grin which seemed to merge with every other facial feature. Knowing that the prince was powerless, the knight reached for the malicious colours of his tome. His helmet still eyeing up his defeated opponent, he flicked through the worn pages, stopping dead on the right ritual. Cradling the pages with his right hand, he glanced down at the familiar lines of the spell before levitating his left hand over it.

The prince could merely watch as a glow began to appear between the hand and the pages. It became more prominent, growing to a red colour, shaped by the magnetism of his hand. He could not believe it, but he was letting death take him. He was struggling to grasp the reality of the situation. His mind becoming unstable, thoughts and memories bombarding his mind in the last moments of his life. It was like floating in and out of consciousness; his view returned to the knight for a few seconds, then was whisked off into a recount of all his life, a visual biography. And in it all, an overwhelming crackling noise liberating his ears, torturing him, and he wanted to make it stop, but he was powerless and he was unsure whether he was even alive or dead.

The noise stopped and he saw a pegasus, blurs of red, blue and brown riding it. Was he dead? He felt stripped of his senses. Was this what death felt like? The pain in his arm was still prominent, and he attempted moving it. No, it was too painful. He tried shifting his body. No result either. Maybe death shut down all the muscles and organs in the body. Perhaps he would stay here in the afterlife, alone. Whiling away the hours sitting there, playing through a list of hallucinations in his mind without any idea of where he was.

And then he was moving.

Not of his own accord; he was statued in this position. Someone was _carrying_ him. The brown and blue blurs returned to his vision, but the red had disappeared. He could make out them shifting; perhaps to accommodate him. Whoever was lifting him lay him down in between them, and, powerless to his own movement, blue flooded his vision. On second inspection, it was more a teal colour than anything else. He merely watched. The teal shuffled to the side of his line of sight, replaced with one of pale colour, like skin. And in the pale, he could just make out some facial features. A movement of red, and sound to go with it too.

"Lady Hinoka, is this an enemy? Why are we taking him?"

"Setsuna, I'll tell you later. Just keep him safe."

"Okay... Whatever you wish, Milady."

And then he blacked out.

* * *

 **Review Responses / Questions Answered**

 **Spluush: Thank you for your words / Uh, yeah, I enjoy haikus / Keep writing your thing (If anyone else is reading this, you would like this guy's story, Eccentricity, go check it out)**

 **The Zubatman: Good to know you're enjoying the story so far.**

 **Guest: Thank you so much for your detailed thoughts. You have given me ideas which I will definitely try to incorporate into the chapters from here on out, especially since the next chapter involves Nohr. You've made my job for the flashback chapter so much easier.**

 **Also about your PS: Before I even started this story, I outlined a scene like that in my head. Believe me, I have some good ideas, and I hope that 1) I will be able to write this story to that point and 2) You will still be reading when the time comes.**

 **Elegance Silenced: Thank you for your review. The outcome of the story will definitely change based on the relationships. Its something that I wished could have happened in the game, but due to the sheer amount of marriage and relationship options it couldn't happen.**

 **There will be some light on how Takumi's retainers came to be Corrin's close friends, don't worry.**

 **As for the dragon form, I was skeptical at first to even include it. In the plan I try to make the dragon form work differently, and whilst it hasn't been shown yet, I want to have it as something Corrin has little control over, and isn't able to just use a dragon stone and magically revert back.**

 **To everyone else who followed, favourited: Thank you for your continued support towards this story.**

* * *

 **A/N: The first chapter in a Setsuna/Corrin based story where Setsuna has a role is chapter 3, after 10000 words. Oh well, better late than never?**

 **This chapter was originally longer, but I thought the black out ending, however cliché, was suitable.**

 **The battle scene in the Crow's Nest was extremely unrealistic, but I felt my writing was bad anyway, so I had to add something that at least motivated me a bit to continue.**

 **Also, when Hinoka speakers about Matoi, she isn't referring to Caeldori. I wanted a name for Subaki's pegasus, so ended up naming it after his daughter.**

 **Anyway, I don't think I have much more to say. Might upload Chapter 4 on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but no guarantees. I'm just looking forward to show where this story goes.**

 **-Ben**


	4. Verge of Insanity

**_Absent-minded_**

 ** _Chapter 4: Verge of Insanity_**

 **Foreword: I meant to update this on Saturday. Oh well.**

 **I found it refreshing to write this chapter after my struggle through the battle. I started this with only a small plan, so this chapter is more an improvised style. I hope you don't mind, I'm going to go back to my old planning for Chapter 5.**

 **This chapter, in my eyes, is the last one before the romantic developments start. I also used it as a way to establish some of the key ideas affecting the events of the story. As such, this chapter is very light on action. But due to Corrin's 'injury' at the end of chapter 3 as well as the reunion with Hinoka, this is the best time to do it.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

...

Through the dark, a light began to penetrate. Blurry, yes, but unmistakably light. Was this back where he started, on the ship to Nohr? Or was this the afterlife? He figured he would learn soon enough.

He tried to shuffle his arm, the one that had been effectively crushed in the fight with the knight. A flash of pain echoed around his body, originating from the forearm. Though he had not made visual contact with the wound due to his state, his guess would be that the wound was still young. The periodic throbs made Corrin wince internally, scolding him for checking the status of his arm.

With great difficulty, Corrin managed to shuffle his body, just slightly. He was constrained by a soft material, fully enveloping him up to his head. Even though this was not a difficult obstacle to overcome, his weakened and freshly woken state made it near impossible to arise from wherever he was. Saying it out loud, it was pathetic. A prince of Hoshido who holds a key role in the Hoshidan army fails to emerge from a light soft material. He laughed quickly, but it came with no sound.

Then he heard.

"Ah, Hinoka, looks like your brother is back." So there was someone overseeing him. Undoubtably watching him struggle against his flimsy confinement. But he alerted as best as he could when the words "Hinoka" and "Brother" were spoken. Who was conversing with her sister? He had all but figured out at this point that he was somehow alive, but unless Hinoka had changed her plans, they must've been in Nohr at this moment.

"What? Really?" The voice he had grown to know, during his time in Hoshido. Belonging to his elder sister Hinoka, who had been separate from the group for many months. The voice whose tone Corrin had compared to a permanent voice break, much to the dismay of his sister.

"Yes, I believe so. My previous experience with rescuing you and others taught me that specific routines of stirring are most likely signs." So, the man who was talking had rescued Hinoka before. That led Corrin to believe he had some close position relative to his redhead sister, like an advisor or retainer.

He continued. "Looking at him struggling against the covers is the most entertainment I have been receiving in the stagnant air of this room. Aside from anything that is spoken by Setsuna."

"I'm entertaining? Thank you for being so nice, Azama..." The voice he had assigned to the teal blur just before he blacked out was named Setsuna, it seemed. It led him to wonder whether the woman was also a retainer to Hinoka.

The man started, but Hinoka's voice dominated the space they were contained in. "Oh, thank goodness. I knew he wasn't gone! Thank you, Azama, for staying with me!"

"...Milady?" Setsuna asked. Another one of the prince's non-audible laughs escaped. Such an innocent tone, but with it such hilarity.

"Don't worry, I would never forget about you, Setsuna-"

"-Due to the mental _and_ physical exhaustion you expose her to everyday." The man's sharp tongue intertwined into Hinoka's speech and overtook it.

"Azama, please. Now is not the time." The prince found the exchange which was conspiring between the three amusing. If these were Hinoka's retainers, which he didn't doubt at this point, they definitely met the definition that Oboro and Hinata had told him of: _"eccentric, but it's difficult to explain until you see them for yourself."_

"Anyway, Setsuna, thank you as well."

"It's my pleasure, Milady." As the light began to clear and define shapes, he saw the woman crouch out of the corner of his eye, holding the ends of whatever she was wearing as a skirt and curtsying.

"Now, Setsuna, I want you to go and tell everyone about Corrin returning while Azama and I stay here." The voicebreak tone turned almost motherly, gently commanding her retainer. It reminded him of his tutor when he was a toddler; teaching him basic arithmetic and language and then telling him to repeat in the same gentle tone.

"O-Okay, I'll do my best...!" He heard the whisk of the woman's feet becoming less and less noticeable as she exited the space. It sounded like she was walking down a corridor; maybe they were holed up in an inn in Nohr until he was well enough to travel with them. That would make sense, considering his integral role in the army as a whole.

"Corrin? Are you there?" His sister dominated his view as she tried to make eye contact with him.

"Y-Yes..." His words collapsed upon the exit of his mouth, but Hinoka understood.

"Oh, Corrin… I'm so happy to see you alive..." Her strong character faltered in the spur of the moment, and her eyes moistened.

She blinked them back. "You've... You've been out for almost two weeks... Had you not have been treated by Azama and Sakura, you could have died."

"An overstatement." Azama's sly voice sounded truthful at least. However, since Hinoka was so up in arms about you being her brother and Hoshidan royalty, I figured that had I not treated you my role would be deferred for at least the foreseeable future. So, you're welcome."

"Thanks... Azama, is it?" His speech had gained fluidity, as well as his sight. Though he had still not got fully accustomed to the light, it felt good to be back.

"Yes, that is my name. I suppose my position is retainer to Hinoka, along with that unworthy woman you may have heard. She's gone for a minute thankfully, so you won't have to bear with awfully obvious questions, and having to answer them with as much clarity as needed. Anyway, enough of my ranting, my role as retainer originated from my saving of her life. Of course, that was before she understood my personality, and, had she known it then, I doubt that I would be here right now."

Azama flashed Hinoka's stern face with a sly grin, then continued. "I trust that you have worked out that I am seasoned with the usage of the stave?"

"Er... Yes." Corrin was still processing what Azama was saying. The man was confident, that was for sure, but it also seemed he was completely unfazed by anyone else's actions. The fact that he insulted the woman with so much as a moment of hesitation almost impressed the prince, but still, he could see the annoyance that the man carried with him.

"Good. Well, Corrin, although the Hoshidan kingdom gives healers the opportunity to train with naginata or yumi, I have not been trained in any of these battle implements. So, I'm afraid that right now, I'm at the mercy of your protection. Whether you like me or not, I could save your life, so if you already hold a grudge against me and refuse to prevent my demise, you might find your own comes soon enough."

"Azama, why do you always find a way to ruin things?"

"It's a rather prominent skill I happen to possess, I must say." He stroked his chin in thought. "Tell me Hinoka, why do _you_ think I always find a way to ruin things?"

The princess rolled her eyes. "That's an Azama comment if I ever heard one." And then she gave her attention to Corrin again, perching herself on the bedside. "When we arrived on the ship, we saw you fighting a malig knight on the crow's nest."

Corrin furrowed his brow. "A malig knight? Can't say I've ever heard of them."

"I was told about them by Father a long time ago." She swallowed the word Father, depressed by the negative memories she had attached to the word. "Nohr has a cavalry of wyvern riders who have been specially trained in magic as well as axes. I remember when he drew what they looked like for me... it terrified me so much that it stuck in my head."

"Hinoka..." The prince moved his unhurt arm to comfort her.

"Then we saw that you had been injured. We came in to try and save you. You were lucky the malig knight decided to the use his tome, as that bought us time to come in."

"Is the malig knight gone?" It was an unneeded question, but Corrin was shaken by the whole affair.

"Yes, don't worry, he's long gone. Anyway, after he'd gone, the other creatures disappeared. Strange behaviour, really; some took up to studying it, but found no leads. We took you down to Sakura - by this time you were out, so you wouldn't remember this. She and Azama managed to stop the blood flow, but your arm had been fractured, and your shoulder blade badly bruised. According to Azama, however, the biggest danger was the possibility of the wound getting infected, which was likely due to the wet, dirty conditions. The thing that's been putting us on edge is the fact that you were meant to have been well the next day. According to Sakura, due to there being little damage to major organs, you would be completely fine, and we held her to that fact. When you didn't return to us, we got worried. Eventually, people lost hope." The moistness became visible in her eyes once again. "Corrin, the whole air, the whole atmosphere of the ship has been miserable. Everyone left you in your quarters, hoping that you would come back to us. Sakura has been feeling terrible as the blame has been transferred to her in their disappointment. But I refused, I refused to believe that my brother had died in that way. For the last few days we have been here, we have been here for you, Corrin, hanging on to the dwindling hope that everyone abandoned. Everyone believed that we would fight this war a member of the royal family down, but now you're back. I know you probably aren't fit to fight for some weeks, but still, you're alive, and that means the world, especially to me. Do you know how painful it was for my first sight of you in many months to be a crumpled figure succumbing to his demise?"

The prince's eyes had grown progressively as Hinoka's speech went on. "Oh gods... what have I done?"

"Don't worry Corrin... It wasn't your fault..." The princess took a deep breath, trying to stop her hyperventilation which progressively grew through her speech.

Subaki appeared in the doorway, cradling Caeldori in his uniformed arms. His senses were sharply alerted at the sight of Corrin's open eyes. "C-Corrin! We thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, Hinoka told me the story."

The retainer turned to Hinoka, crouching down to her level. "Hinoka, dear, it's okay. Do you think Caeldori is happy to see her mother in this state?" He hugged the princess, and handed Caeldori to her.

Corrin overlooked the scene with an abundance of suspicion and spoke up. "Wait... Hinoka, you're Caeldori's mother?"

"You didn't know that?" Subaki flinched in disbelief. "Hinoka and I have been married for three years! You _must've_ have seen her caring for Caeldori at some point."

"To be honest, I n-never told him... But, I gave birth to Caeldori just a few months before you came to Hoshido. It would've been hard to not see her given the amount of time I dedicated to maternal activities." She caressed her daughter's cheek with her thumb, surprisingly calming herself down.

"Well... I mean, congratulations! That's great!" He sat up, reaching out with his hand towards the infant. "So, Caeldori is my niece? Is that how it works? And I have a brother-in-law I never knew I had?"

Subaki nodded, and started to explain, but his speech was abruptly cut off by the sound of their younger sister hurrying into the room. Sakura's eyes widened at the sight.

"S-So... What Setsuna said was true..." She spoke under her breath, nervously, trying to control herself. "Corrin... I'm so sorry for abandoning you... I deserve punishment."

"Sakura, please. You had every right to abandon me after my situation looked so hopeless. I don't want you to worry about this any longer, as we have more important matters to focus on."

"I j-just didn't think you could have been out for so long a time with such minor injuries."

The prince was sceptical of his state. "But, why was I?"

The little princess closed her eyes and inhaled meaningfully. "I'm no expert in treatment or knowledge of mental health. B-But, if I can try to explain it..."

Corrin looked up to see a small crowd appearing at the door, with Ryoma in the frame. "What happened?" His eyes followed Sakura as she slowly trotted to and fro.

She came to a stop, and knelt down on the floor next to Corrin. "I think... I th-think that that... thing you were f-fighting... it must've triggered a memory in your mind. P-Perhaps even a vision. But, what I think you saw was just s-s-so ho-horrific that it w-weakened your mind. F-forced it to h-hibernate while it... it..."

"Sakura, take a deep breath, and tell us what it did. You have quite the crowd gathering."

Sakura craned her neck and looked at the varying expressions in the doorway. The nonchalant yet serious look of Ryoma, the uninterested look of Takumi, all waiting to see what she would say.

"Corrin... It's going to t-torture you..."

There were an assortment of gasps from the Hoshidans. She took a deep breath, and continued. "T-That memory... o-or vision... It will keep on r-returning to you in dreams... but then, w-when you wake... you won't be a-able to re-recall it. B-basically, you will weakened by it, but you can't help against it because you don't know what it is." She added, "It w-will be a lot worse than you th-think."

"I see..." The prince pondered this in silence, before looking around to gain the attention of the army. They looked distraught, which the prince dislike. He tried to lighten the mood. "Well, I think, even with this knowledge, you shouldn't let it affect you. Especially as we approach Nohr, there are many things of considerably more importance to be worrying about. Just think of me being back as a sign of good things to come; there's a long road ahead of us, that we know, but the reason we came is because we are prepared for it, and we can't let some vision affecting a single person get us down."

Ryoma stepped forward. "Everyone, do not worry. Remember that Corrin is in good hands with the likes of Sakura and Azama to tend to his needs. As Corrin said, we have things to mind about which affect the whole army; we are just a few days off of Nohr and while it is quiet days and training isn't mandatory, once we hit the port at the South Nestrian Peninsula, it will be hard trekking and training before we reach Cyrkensia to stock up and rest. Likewise, we can rejoice at Corrin's return for now, but remember, we have an objective to fulfill, and while our emotional life is very important, when the fate of our homeland hangs in the balance, our counter-conquest must be efficient, however painful. Understand?"

"Understood." The Hoshidans stood to attention.

"Heh, at ease, everyone." The prince chuckled under his ceremonial armour.

There was a general mumble as the Hoshidans came to greet Corrin. Through the next twenty or so minutes Corrin engaged in chat with the high prince and his siblings as well as some of the others. While it was somewhat repetitive, the prince found the experience refreshing, especially due to his recent actions. Even Takumi had managed a smile to welcome his brother back into the world, despite how seemingly forced.

In the midst of all this upbeat crowding of Corrin however, he had been singled out by Orochi for an 'important conversation'. She discreetly led him over to just outside the room, ignoring the prince's questions.

"What are you doing, Orochi?"

The purple-haired diviner crept around him, sending a chill down his spine. "I'm not doing anything. Just... going to help you." She rolled her Ss over her tongue sinisterly.

Corrin breathed in and exaggerated his swallow. "Help? How?"

Orochi hissed with a sharp intake of breath. "Wait, someone's coming. Act as if it's a normal conversation."

"Why should I?" The prince was beginning to question his trust for Orochi.

"Just do it, you idiot!" Orochi spat at his face. "I'll explain after whoever it is goes past."

"Fine..." Despite her strange behaviour, Corrin decided to stay in submission to her for the time being.

"Oh, hello, Corrin. Nice to see you back, especially after everyone thought we were gone. But I knew you would be back. The cards told me so. They never lie."

Corrin caught sight of Reina, turning past the wall of the armoury. "Hello, Orochi. Good to see you doing well. How is little Asugi?" It was terrible acting, but Orochi's fellow retainer didn't bat an eye at his suspicious tone.

"He's never been better. The cards have foreseen that he will grow up to be a very handsome ninja, who will make his parents proud."

"How old is he now? Like, one or two?"

"His second birthday is in a few..." Orochi watched as Reina welcomed the comfort of her quarters. She met Corrin's face against the wall. "Alright. Listen up."

"I'm all ears."

"You heard what Sakura said. You possess in your mind a vision or memory." She trotted around his figure, hands gripping his shoulders.

"Yes, I heard, surprisingly." The prince developed a sour expression. "Orochi?"

"Mm?"

His eyes met the woman behind him. "You're a married woman. You don't need all the seductive movement."

The purple diviner rolled her eyes. "Lord Corrin, you're spoiling my fun. If you weren't knee-deep in war affairs the whole time, you would realise that this isn't so strange coming from me." She sighed. "But, if it _really_ bothers you that much, I can-" She held her words and circled back to her original position. "-do it normally."

"Great. Now, tell me what you want to say."

"Lord Corrin, tell me. Do you worry about this?"

He thought. "No, not really. I mean, with a war going on, one little- Orochi, what are you doing?" The diviner was squinting intensely at his face moving progressively from feature to feature.

She kept squinting but opened her mouth to speak. "You're lying."

"Bu-"

"Allow me to explain, Lord Corrin. You may not understand what I'm telling you at first, but just bear with me." Her instincts kicked in, and resumed her circling of Corrin. However, the prince didn't bother to scold her for it, as he figured it would only be a matter of time before she restarted it, no matter the amount of warnings given to her.

"So, you know that Lady Sakura tends to wounds. I mean, thats exactly what she was taught to do: the reparation of the physical body." She kept a secretive tone. "But, for all her skills with the festal, there is one thing she cannot treat; the mind, the brain, the whole basis of mental health."

"I am aware of this. What do you want to tell me?"

The diviner soured briefly. "Just listen, Lord Corrin. For however skeptical you are now, I guarantee that this will ultimately be a benefit to you. Now, when I was a bit younger, prior to my role as subordinate of Lady Mikoto, I dabbled in the study of charms. I was fascinated by magic and its applicability, doing what otherwise would be impossible. My scholarly actions were recognised by the head of mental health at the Hospital of Suzanoh. The hospital was considered the most important hospital at that time due to it bring situated just a few hundred metres from the line of the Suzanoh front, perhaps the most important defensive position during the Faceless Attacks."

"Then, there was an outbreak of mental illness. It was very strange- since mental illness is never contagious, outbreaks are unheard of- and the few onmyojis stationed there were struggling, due to there previously being a higher demand for healers. So, me, as well as few more of the castle's scholars, were sent out to treat the unwell. We underwent intensive mental healing courses in Fort Kagome, south of Fort Jinya. We were introduced to all these scrolls and charms, such objects I had only seen in the deepest pages of my research material. In a year we had become qualified diviners, and we were carted off to the hospital to cater for the rise in mental illness."

"Although I left after a few months due to Lady Mikoto's selection of me as her retainer, I came out of it a stronger woman, one that knew the ups and downs of the niche subject of magic. And I kept that knowledge with me, in case the opportunity came when I needed to use it. So, Lord Corrin, consider yourself lucky that I am able to help you."

She tutted when the prince started. "From my knowledge, what Lady Sakura said about it torturing you is a common misconception by those unacquainted with mental health. So, you don't have to worry extensively but, that being said, you need to be aware of it. Your mind is strong. Imagine your brain as a sort of waterwheel, constantly collecting all sorts of things, memories, plans, notes, everything. By that premise, there are bound to be things which you don't want couped up in there. But there are also things you cherish, and hold on to. You understand?"

Corrin nodded.

"Well, this _thing_ has entered that wheel, and it has stuck on. It happened to many soldiers fighting in the Faceless Attacks; that same thing you have there. At that time, the cause was unclear, but it was experienced by an astonishing one in twenty soldiers. But now, I think I have a potential theory for it."

She drew back as some kind of gesture to promote her idea. "I'm assuming the Malig Knight you fought was one of those creatures?"

"Yes. Its armour was visible, but the flesh was the same wave-like purple of the others. I suspect the armour showed up because of it being actual Malig Knight wear, and not a replica."

The diviner nodded. "Okay, so we've established these creatures, whatever they were, were most likely supernatural. Now, Lord Corrin, what are the Faceless?"

He bit his lip in thought. It was clear to Orochi that he was thinking about it on a deeper scale, and that his answer would be more complicated than it needed to be.

"Well, they aren't natural, but it's a stretch to say they're supernatural. I mean, the strength of magic these days is nothing to downplay; it does alter the effect of the laws of the physical world, but it is so commonly used that it may as well be seen as just unnatural rather than supernatural."

"Well explained, Lord Corrin, but it wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for. In short, the Faceless and the creatures, they are both...?"

He realised it was his job to answer. "Not natural."

"Yes! You see, the disease, I think it's something to do with coming into contact with species which are impossible to conceive without bending the laws of nature. The thing is, you accept magic as part of nature, many people do, but when the first scholars wrote the First Tome, was it accepted as natural? No! In fact, magic was kept secret from society apart from a circle of people, and even when it was accepted as part of it, it was seen as criminal and was the most prominent taboo of the time. So, these creatures are both supernatural! Now, pardon my excitement, Lord Corrin, but this theory could be one of great recognition in the future."

Corrin did not hide his amusement. His original skepticism had gone. Listening to this woman, although he found it strange to admit it, was interesting. Although he was intelligent due to his high levels of education in his childhood, he never saw academic careers as ones to follow. Orochi did not make it look bad.

"You know how radiation works, right? And how the exposure to it over long periods can turn into radiation poisoning?"

"I do."

"Okay, so here's my theory; the emanation of an unknown substance from a supernatural being is able to enter your mind. A very simple idea, but one that did not spring to fruition, due to the only known circumstances of the illness being from warriors fighting the Faceless. And I'm going to assume this substance has entered your mind. Because while for now officials will deny my theory due to the lack of overall evidence, it seems very logical that this is a potential cause."

"Well, you're the expert. I don't have any reason to not believe you."

"But, I'm getting off track. Through your dreams, this thing will take you back to past experiences in your life. But, this time, you will watch yourself. You'll think about your actions, and how they affected the outcome which you will be aware of. You'll also be susceptible to visions directly affecting your physical and emotional state, which, quite handily you'll be able to change if you make the right actions. Quite pleasant, really."

However the prince was concerned. "If it's a pleasant thing, why is it considered an illness?"

Orochi darkened. "Well. There have been many reported cases of people becoming so engrossed in their own inquisitiveness that they have been unable to escape their dreams, and have thus gone into a coma. By the time they're finally up, they're mad, influenced by visions, brought to the verge of insanity by them, and have to be locked up to prevent them from damaging anything or anyone." When she was met by silence she added to her comment. "So, basically we have to get it out of your system, Lord Corrin."

Corrin took a while to process the information. "I have a few more questions before we can end this conversation. Firstly, how do I get it out?"

The diviner had expected this question to pop up. "I'll prescribe a charm for you. Then you'll need to go and see Hayato: he's the one that has a whole inventory of charms brought with him. He'll probably know what you came for, but if you need to elaborate, say that Doctor Orochi needs something to combat your memories and visions. Then he'll know what to get."

"I'm not sure I'll use that exact wording... but I'll be sure to do that."

"Afterwards, return to me. I can take you through the process of using it, then I'll give you the accurate guidelines to when we should meet."

"Right. I'm also wondering why Sakura said it was going to torture me in front of everyone. Now I feel like everyone's worry is misplaced."

"Ah, that's a common misconception. During the first outbreak, they were trying to gather information about the illness. I don't know how, but they managed to come out of the gathering with a 'confident assumption' that the illness was brutal from the get go. They also said that it drills bad memories into your mind, forcing you into depression. None of which is true."

"For you, I'll have a word with Ryoma about your illness. If it all goes well, he'll announce that you have recovered from your illness." She smiled. "Ta-da! No one worries anymore, while your proper treatment sessions can be undercover."

"Hm," the prince sighed. "I guess that would work. A lie with good intention is sometimes fine. But... final question for now, what was with all the secrecy?"

"I mean..." The purple diviner thought for a moment. "There are quite a few reasons, but what I feel was most important was to consider Lady Sakura's feelings. It's quite out of line to speak out against a person of a higher status than you. I would have rather spoken to you when no harm would be done as a byproduct of it."

"But, shouldn't she have known what the illness was? I mean, the way you've explained it, I'm guessing it was quite the outbreak?"

She nodded. "Uh huh. It was. Still, it was only really kept between mages and diviners, due to the general controversy about magic as a whole."

There was a brief silence, marred only by the general murmur in Corrin's quarters. Then Orochi raised her eyebrows. "Well, Lord Corrin, it's only appropriate for me to take my leave now, don't you think?" And she was gone, strolling nonchalantly to her room as if the whole conversation had never conspired.

Corrin slid the door to his quarters open, making sure he was discreet. Brushing against the curtain between his and Oboro's rooms, he got himself close to his bed. It didn't seem like anyone had caught on to the fact that he had been gone for a few minutes; his quarters had become the setting for some social gathering, which seemed ironic given the original atmosphere of the room after he had woken up.

His senses were returning; the growl of his stomach alerting him to the fact that he had effectively not eaten in a few weeks. Sighing, he realised that his priority was to visit the mess hall and, because he doubted the counter would have been manned, cook himself some food. He decided that it would be best to cut through Oboro's room to save himself the trouble of finding the way to his own door. As he flicked the curtain back, he noticed the seamstress sitting on her bed, sewing with an expectant face fixed to his position.

She smiled, setting the needle down on her bedside table. "You know, it's rude to enter uninvited, Lord Corrin. I could have been doing anything." Noticing the prince's face darken, she smirked. "That's _exactly_ what I mean."

He cleared the instinctive thought from his head. "Oops, I didn't think you would be here, Oboro. Can I just pass through?"

"If you really want to, then your wish is my command." She paused, tilting her head persuasively. "Although, saying that, we should start socialising again. Since Hinata shares my job, there's rarely a story we can share to each other that we didn't witness ourselves. It really is interesting, your stories about growing up."

"Besides," she continued, "we'll be in Nestra this time in two days. Then you'll likely be caught up in war affairs most of the time. I'm sure Hinata will willingly see you too."

"That's true. But first, I need to eat, and clear my room. Orochi says my illness was overstated by Sakura, thankfully."

"Oh. That's relieving to know."

Corrin flashed a smile, cutting the conversation short. He then exited her room, making for the mess hall.

* * *

The prince returned, positively filled from his Hoshidan meal, and in lighter spirits now he knew that his illness would not hinder the rest of the journey. He inhaled in satisfaction when the noise emanating from his room was scarce. As much as he enjoyed the company of his comrades, there were times where he preferred to spend time alone.

He opened the door. Empty, save for Hinoka's blue-haired retainer sitting down on the edge of his bed. Strangely, she didn't seem informed of his presence; she looked distant, her eyes looking beyond just the walls of his room.

Corrin cleared his throat. The distance in her eyes abruptly shrunk, and her sense of reality returned.

Her face darted animatedly towards the figure looming over her. "Oh, is this your bed? Sorry, I'll leave if you want to sleep."

"It's fine. Are you Setsuna?"

"Erm... Yes, my name is Setsuna."

Corrin stood by the curtain, lightly gripping it. "May I ask why you're here when everybody else has left?"

"There was a reason..." She screwed up her eyes in concentration, before a spark forced them open. "Ah, I remember. Lady Hinoka wanted me to introduce myself to you, because I hadn't yet. You _are_ Corrin, right?"

"I am."

She stood up, looking towards the door. "Lady Hinoka went out to look for you. She might come back."

"That being said, it's nice to meet you, Setsuna. I don't think we've met before...?"

The girl twirled her hair around her index finger. "Well... I met you when I had to take care of you on Lady Hinoka's pegasus... But you were asleep, so, does that count as meeting you?"

"Let's say this is our first time meeting, then."

She spoke to herself, declining the presence of Corrin. "So... I curtsey, I think..." And then she approached Corrin, gripping her fur guard and spreading it, curtsying. "I'm Setsuna, but I think you know that. I'm one of Lady Hinoka's retainers, along with Azama the monk, who you might have met. I-I'm quite good with a bow, I guess."

As she was introducing herself, Corrin took in her appearance. She lacked height; at a guess, she was about five feet and a bit. Her teal hair was short, and was swished neatly over her left eye. Atop her head was a flared cotton headband which was resting snugly, half-over both her ears. Her features were ones of undoubtable innocence, contrary to Azama. The clear-blue irises inhabiting her eyes testified to this, free of sin and uninterrupted by the views and ideas which controlled the very base of this conflict. These eyes were set upon a skin which was of a tanned white complexion, her face layered with pale makeup like most other Hoshidans. She wore a snow-white apron, which showed general wear and tear, but otherwise looked entirely new. It evolved into a thick wool collar which lightly protected most of her neck, and complemented her teal colour like the headband had done. Under this apron, he could see the folds of a simple, grey kimono on her chest, and it evolved into gaping sleeves at her wrists. She had a skirt-like waist guard, designed with animal fur, and with many straps attached. One was for her gloves, which were a teal-blue to match her hair. They had been designed to leave the middle and index finger uncovered, so the archer would be able to grip her arrow whilst slowing the process of callousing on her hands. Although she did not carry her quiver and yumi, Corrin assumed they would normally be strapped on the fur guard too. Her kimono ended under the guard, and she wore teal-blue, skin-tight leggings which disappeared into her shin-high stockings. The boots had a flared opening and rapidly tightened, with blue adjustable straps on her calf. The bow on the foot had been very tightly laced, defining and almost suffocating her feet underneath.

"So, you're Lady Hinoka's brother?" Being the short woman she was, she had to slightly crane her neck to maintain eye contact with Corrin, emphasising the sheer innocence that her features conveyed.

"Right."

"Wow, you're royalty like Lady Hinoka?" She raised her eyebrows. "That means I call you Lord Corrin, and not just Corrin, right?"

He chuckled. "Well, personally, I don't mind, but most people refer to me as Lord Corrin."

"Okay. It's, uh, good to meet you, Lord Corrin." She paused, then smiled, curtsying once more.

"Nice to meet you too, Setsuna." Corrin repeated what he had said a few seconds ago, but he didn't mind.

The archer turned to the door, seeing her liege, arms folded, leaning in the doorway. "Yes, Lady Hinoka?"

Hinoka smiled at her blue-haired retainer. "Nothing. Just nice to see you introducing yourself and developing your social skills."

The bluenette blushed. "Wow... even with all the compliments I get from you, Milady, I always love it when you give me one. But I was just introducing myself to Lord Corrin over here, like you wanted me to. Normally I would forget to, but I just thought that it would be extra important this time, especially since you tell me and Azama about him all the time." She turned her head towards Corrin." You almost get as many compliments from her than I do. I think she goes on about you even more than Subaki or Miss Cael-"

"Setsuna!" Hinoka's firm arm blocked her retainer from Corrin. "There are some things that you aren't meant to go around telling everyone about!"

The archer gritted her teeth at her liege's flushed face. "But Lady Hinoka, I haven't told everyone. I only told Corrin..."

Before Hinoka could respond, the prince decided it was best to intervene. "Don't worry, Hinoka. I'm not the type to judge you for something like that. After all, it's not uncommon for siblings to care about each other right?"

She sighed. "Oh, Corrin. War is so difficult sometimes..." The fluidity of her change of emotions was not there; it was an uncharacteristic jump from anger to sorrow, and the redhead buried her head into the neck of her younger brother, letting her erratic tears fall. Her character, while strong on the outside, seemed fragile. Corrin instinctively raised his arm, lightly placing it around her shoulders. Meanwhile, Setsuna looked blankly at the scene with the effervescence comparable to a corpse, but then followed the prince's gesture for help.

"Don't cry Lady Hinoka... You should be happy because you aren't just with me and Azama anymore..." It was clear the bluenette had little experience in situations like these, but after the show of her concern Hinoka looked up at her.

"Setsuna." She inhaled deeply, trying to compose herself. "You don't have to worry."

"But Milady, I am you retainer for a reason, right?"

The redhead withdrew from her brother's grip, turning towards Setsuna. "I suppose you are. You wouldn't understand, though. I just... need some time to think alone with Subaki."

She left abruptly. The prince and the archer stood together for a moment, processing the strangeness of the conversation. Was there something she was masking? She said it was the war that bothered her, but then had proceeded to decline Setsuna's offer under the impression that 'she wouldn't understand.' Even though Setsuna's personality was slightly questionable, he very much doubted that she wouldn't understand the emotional consequences of war.

"Well, that was unexpected..." Setsuna paused, deciding on what to do. "Should I go and check if she's alright?"

"No, I think you should leave her. Whatever she's upset about, it seems to be some sort of private issue. Besides, don't you have things to be doing? From my experience, my retainers are forever busy. Frankly, I'm not sure if they're ever resting."

"Things to be doing..." She looked as if she was filtering through each page of her mind to find something. Presently, she said, "Nope, I don't think so. There aren't any traps on this boat, at least to my knowledge."

"What? I mean, like jobs retainers do. Naming a few, the laundry? Weapon and armour polishing?" Responding to Setsuna's confused face, he elaborated. "The things you do for Lady Hinoka?"

Although this was a relatively foreign idea to Setsuna, she decided it was best to mask it as one she had no problem with it. "Oh, of course. I have some... laundry to be doing." She turned for the door. "Well, I'll guess I'll see you later, Lord Corrin."

"Goodbye, Setsuna. I appreciate your time."

"Thank you for the compliment..."

As the area descended into silence, Corrin flopped down on his bed. Although he had only been awake for a brief time, exhaustion had still managed to invade him after the things he had learned today. The western kingdoms were in wait, and in two days the party would set foot in Nestrian territory. He swallowed, knowing that was when the real battle would start. The bonds between Nohr and their western alliances were strong, and they would undoubtably join forces against the Nohrian fronts. Not only would the battles be strenuous, the constant supplies they received through their travels would be gone the moment they stepped forward into Nohr. Their scavenging rates would have to increase substantially, despite being in the tundra-like conditions of Nohr's midlands. It would be tough, but war was never easy. This war had been a stalemate for years, but that only made the eventual breakout of it bloodthirsty, both nations storing up hatred to release as mercilessness.

And it wasn't as simple as just killing. Undertaking the illness, taking a integral role in the army and getting to the bottom of Hinoka's sorrow were just a few things that would consume his time more, however little he had to begin with? There was the constant pressure of losing someone, but also the worry of losing yourself. Balancing roles in camp, making sure to train regularly, being ready to fight in case of sudden attack. With war going on, you could never settle down.

But, everyone had to face them. It didn't matter how difficult it would be, what softened the pain was the fact there were people who he could rely, and people who could rely on him. Just because you could never settle down didn't mean the atmosphere couldn't take a turn for the better sometimes. And, the stronger you were when getting through the hardships, the quicker potential peace would come. A motive most would strive to do.

It was these thoughts that Corrin took with him into the night.

* * *

 **Review Responses / Questions Answered**

 **Spluush: Thank you, and I hope you at least starting reading this first :P**

 **But yeah, I think that in Birthright, Reina's appearance was very unexplained and only done in order to have another unit able to counter the fliers. So, I didn't explain it, but most of the group you gain during the campaign in Birthright actually left with Corrin.**

 **The Zubatman: Thank you for your review. To answer your question, yes, Matoi is the name of Subaki's pegasus. Because I couldn't think of a name I just searched up what Caeldori's Japanese name was and named it after her.**

 **Just a question, do you go on Fire Emblem related Reddits a lot? Because I'm sure I see you often.**

 **Temporal King: Thank you for your PM, and sorry I promised this on Saturday. I really like your ideas, and they fit very well into the events of the story.**

 **Regarding Azama, I do think that idea is very plausible. However, since Azama already refuses to address people by their titles, I'm unsure at this point in time whether Setsuna becoming royalty will affect his actions towards her that much. Besides, Setsuna is already basically immune to his comments, taking them as compliments, so I don't think (from her viewpoint) that she would mind.**

 **But, I do think that I need to perhaps alter Azama's language a bit. Since I want to try and make society and monarchy a bit more realistic and alive than in the game, I don't think a retainer constantly insulting their liege would stay long in their position, regardless of their liege's feelings about them.**

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter done. It feels nice to write after the stalemate of chapter 3's battle scene. I set up quite a few things during this chapter, as well as adding a lot of political and social background to the world.**

 **I want this version of the world to seem more alive and more representative of society than the game showed it to be. I think I've achieved this decently so far with the idea of the taboo of magic and more detail behind the Faceless Attacks, but there is a lot more to come.**

 **I also wanted the misconception of the 'illness' to hint about the actual way society works. In real life, with most uncommon mental illnesses, people don't understand how they work and what their effects. Only here it gets everyone worried about Corrin.**

 **I realised that I didn't really address Corrin's arm injury. Don't worry, it's still there, but it didn't really need to play a part in this chapter.**

 **The Setsuna/Corrin romance theme is finally starting to get off the blocks, once they get to Nohr, it will start taking shape. I guess that's a plus.**

 **Kagome means basket in Japanese. I invisioned the Suzanoh Front being a semi-circular shape, with Fort Kagome being in about the position of the handle.**

 **Yeah.**

 **I think that's about it. I'm not going to make promise about timing again, as some of you know how that went, but I think seeing Chapter 5 in March is not an unrealistic goal.**

 **Until then.**

 **-Ben**


	5. Natural Thoughts

**_Absent-minded_**

 ** _Chapter 5: Natural Thoughts_**

 **Foreword: So, right now it's May 20th, and it's Setsuna's birthday! This isn't a fully fledged chapter (sorry :(). but I wanted to write something for Setsuna's birthday. (it's actually 11:47pm as I write this foreword, so I guess I was almost too late)  
**

 **I wrote this all today, so that proves that if I really focus I can write chapters in under a week. But that would unfortunately make me burnt out. I also have homework and tests I need to prioritise.**

 **But, enough of my rambling, enjoy this very short chapter.**

 **As always, corrections appreciated, and thank you for your continued support for this story.**

* * *

An autumnal leaf, dispatched from its owner, began a controlled descent. The natural cover of the trees protected it from the rain, so it gently flew down to its new resting place.

The leaf met a bed of teal hair.

Setsuna stopped, reaching for the leaf. She brought it to her eyes, spinning the stem round and examining it. The leaf, while mainly red still maintained a yellow colour in proximity to the stem. For most people, the thought of a leaf wouldn't phase them, and they would just discard it. But for Setsuna, nature was fascinating, fantastical even. It was a different type of life, one that grew erratically and never tired. It was a different world, one that only a chosen few understood and appreciated to the depth that Setsuna did.

"Oh, a leaf." she stated simply.

She had been born to a very privileged family, such that she had all her needs tended to. Soon, she found that nothing in her life really excited her. As she grew older, she relied only on the limits of her mind for entertainment. And she preferred it that way. Her mind was vast, filled with endless possibilities, most of which could never be performed in the real world. Her mind was one that she could never possibly get bored of.

Unfortunately, her obsessive nature towards the powers of her mind gave her qualities which were not considered impressive in society. But she believed it was fine, as that what was made her Setsuna. If she ceased the essence of what she was, who would she be anymore?

She found a nearby tree stump, and scaled it, being careful to make sure she didn't slip. She lifted her heels from the stump, and stretched her arm up as far as it could go.

Then she let the leaf go. It restarted its descent and fell to the floor, this time uninterrupted. She nodded to herself and continued on her way.

It was when she was a teenager that she first found her love and appreciation for nature. Nature was a very broad term; if asked to describe it, she would describe it, but it would be so much more than the words she would use. There were so many aspects of it, she could go on for hours about it without ever running out of ideas.

For her, it was the mere act of making decisions without physical impact of humans. Although she thought people would not understand this description, she embraced it nonetheless. Nature, in effect had the same definition as her mind. No one but her could affect her mind. People told her things, and those things entered her mind, but it never changed who she was. It was the same with nature. It grew in its own way and made its own actions. Such was that she decided the leaf should fall as any other leaf should, uninterrupted by her.

As the archer continued, her deep, whimsical halls resonated with the vegetation around her. Every time she was among nature she felt a warmth in her heart. It was unorthodox, and Setsuna never really understood why she felt this way, but figured it was due to the way her mind likened nature as a physical representation of itself. Walking into a forest was like taking a step into her own brain, an action she had wanted to do since she had found her love for her mind. She could escape into the world of daydreaming in total tranquility and let herself be cleansed of the few worries she had.

Her chemistry with nature was a beautiful thing. In an ideal world, she would have no duty, wandering through lush groves and fields. Her meals laid out for her, simple, nutritious, easy to eat meals, so she never had to go to the mess hall to eat. The moonlight forming a natural bed, in which she could sleep, hanging up her clothes onto branches and sinking into its pure embrace, not having to worry about her sleep schedule. Ponds and springs near her resting place, so she could bathe every day after she woke up.

In an ideal world, she would wander the world of nature.

Alone.

She had never really created significant ties between herself and other people. There were a few people like Lady Hinoka and Azama who she had been with for so long that ties had been bound themselves, but besides that, she found that people saw her way of socialising as insulting. Lady Hinoka had told her that the occupation of her mind on other things distracted her from conversation and made her space out, which was what people found insulting.

There were also romantic feelings, which Setsuna felt like she did not possess. Throughout her life, she had seen people fall in love with each other, and go on to be married, living a life together, perhaps with children. But she did not particularly find herself getting these feelings. Perhaps she was asexual, or perhaps the time wasn't right, but she was not particularly bothered by it. The path of general solitude was one with little emotional hardships, and the archer felt that was best for her.

Unfortunately, the mess hall was coming into view; she gave a defeated frown as she had almost finished her walk through the forest. Wind caught the trees, and the leaves waved, sending their best wishes for the archer. An appealing smell invaded her senses, alerting her to the real world-

Right before her was a tripwire.

Setsuna looked up grimly, spotting a large net looming over her. That was close. It wasn't often that she avoided traps. The day was already shaping up to be a good one-

Her foot caught on another tripwire. It reacted, the rope coiling tightly around her boot. There came an all too familiar snap, and Setsuna sighed as she was violently lifted into the air, foot first.

Oh well. Lady Hinoka would come to due time.

* * *

 **Review Responses / Questions Answered:**

 **The Zubatman: That's fine! Just knowing that you read and enjoy my story is enough for me.**

 **Spluush: Thank you for your kind words, it really inspires me to continue this story.**

 **I don't really have any reason for the inconsistencies in Azama's and Setsuna's introduction, I guess it's that the Nohrian names for weapons stick more clearly in my head (maybe it's because they're common names I wonder)**

 **You already read my reason for Corrin's mental illness :( But yeah, I want to have some meaning behind the pairing, as in a reason that they spend time and develop feelings for each other, more than they fall in love just because they find each other hot**

 **Bang Rowdyruff: Don't worry, Corrin/Setsuna fluff is coming :) Sorry you're waiting so long for it though, hoping you enjoy it in the next chapter.**

 **TatsuiChiyo, WolfBlade1996, any new readers: Thank you for supporting my story.**

* * *

 **A/N: So yeah, not exactly a chapter. This was originally going to be a oneshot, but it fitted surprisingly well in the context of the story, so yeah.**

 **I'm sorry if you expected this to be a fully fledged chapter. I was lazy before, and I'm in the middle of exams but I hope to get back on track and start writing again in June. I know the feeling when you follow a fic that gets updated very rarely, and I'm sorry I haven't been rewarding you for following, favouriting and reviewing this story.**

 **But, about the chapter, I wanted to explore some of the ideas I have about Setsuna's personality and why she is how she is. Note that this is only my take on this subject: others may have different views. But I wanted to demonstrate that Setsuna's intelligence is completely fine, its her obsession with her mind that gets her her characteristics.**

 **I found it difficult to find a way to change the themes I wanted to go through, I hope it doesn't seem too un _natural_ \- I hate myself**

 **I felt like I had to include a trap somewhere, otherwise it wouldn't be a true Setsuna story. Quite cliché, but still.**

 **I hope to see you in the not too distant future for Chapter 6!**

 **-Ben**


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